By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has hailed reform aimed at turning around the economy, saying progress has been made as a result of Operation Vulindlela.
Operation Vulindlela is a government initiative aimed at accelerating progress on economic reform.
In his weekly letter, Ramaphosa highlighted the release of the latest progress report on Operation Vulindlela, the scope of which was recently widened by the Government of National Unity (GNU) to include municipal recovery, digital services and spatial equality components.
Ramaphosa said that, during the second wave of Operation Vulindlela there would be accelerated moves to introduce competition in electricity generation to introduce greater choice for consumers and drive down costs.
“As part of this process, work is under way to establish an independent Transmission System Operator (TSO) within the next five years, in line with the Electricity Regulation Act.
“We have also made significant progress towards enabling greater investment in our transmission network, including from the private sector, with regulations to govern these investments.”
Recent developments in relation to electricity trading have provided some visibility of the problems that are emerging, with Eskom having objected to the most recent licensing of traders and having excluded traders from using its newly launched virtual wheeling platform.
While Eskom has consistently expressed its commitment to reform, and the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA) is making significant progress in establishing the South African Wholesale Energy Market, the utility has also argued that an orderly transition should be based on established rules, which it says are not yet in place.
The President also highlighted changes under way in the rail sector, including the establishment, in April, of the Transnet Rail Infrastructure Manager, or TRIM, which was seen as a key milestone in opening a network monopolised by Transnet to private train operating companies.
While 98 requests for access have been receive, there has been no formal allocation and Ramaphosa said a revised Network Statement would be published soon and capacity allocated in response to these requests.
“A Private Sector Participation Unit has been established within the Development Bank of Southern Africa to facilitate and fast-track private sector participation in logistics.
“A request for information for private sector participation projects in the rail system and ports has received a strong response from the market, and will enable us to mobilise new investment to modernise and expand our logistics infrastructure,” he added.
Ramaphosa expressed confidence that South Africa’s reform agenda will foster long-term growth, renew infrastructure, and build a more inclusive economy for future generations.
Meanwhile Business Leadership SA (BLSA) CEO Busi Mavuso, said there was still much work to do on reforms to support the economy.