Private Investment in Solar Provided a Key Solution
There is a growing amount of commentary about exactly who or what solved the energy crises that South Africa had experienced for a period of 16-years, that suddenly seemed to magically disappear shortly before the 2024 general elections.
At this stage many in South Africa will simply be thankful it is a thing of the past forgetting what it has cost the country, the economy and the tax payers and the future.
Eskom has received a total of R259 billion in tax-payer’s bailout money and this comes in addition to the average increases in electricity prices, that has increased by 408% in the last decade – more than double the average Consumer Price Index figure of 196% for the same period.
To add insult to injury, Eskom has applied to the National Energy Regulator (NERSA) for an astounding 36% increase in tariffs in 2025.
What Enabled the energy Availability recovery?
The easy answer is that as of July 2024, South Africa had 2,287 MW of privately purchased and installed utility-scale Photo voltaic solar power capacity in its grid, in addition to 5,791 MW of rooftop solar and 500 MW of Concentrated Solar Power generation.
This capacity has enabled Eskom to implement proper maintenance and repairs and bring power units back to higher levels of energy output, that was never possible before.
The importation of solar panels in South Africa has been at unprecedented rates over the past five years. South Africa imported R17.5 billion worth of solar panels in 2023 alone, with these solar imports having a generation capacity of around 5,000MW. The value of imports hit R17.5 billion in 2023, triple the R5.6 billion spent in 2022.
The government has benefitted to the amount of 10% import tax or R1,7 billion in import duties in one year while supporting an energy supply system that has forced consumers and businesses to fork-out billions to keep their homes and businesses electrified.
In addition, consumers pay Value added tax on top of all the other taxes and levies that also benefit the government coffers.
So while the politicians crow about how they have solved the energy crises, it is perhaps wise for them to acknowledge that it was ultimately the long-suffering public and businesses that have in effect bailed them out with tax money that was sorely needed to fix the SA infrastructure to provide an environment where business can thrive, and more jobs can be created, and to offer a long awaited apology on how they almost destroyed one of Africa’s biggest economies.
Future Environmental Headaches and Costs not Addressed
Apart from the cost implications, the future end-of life headaches still await the country as so-called green energy have a dark-side that is yet to be revealed. Many energy forms that rely on natural mechanisms like the sun or wind generation have longer term environmental disadvantages. Renewable energy is expensive to set up as a new infrastructure and has not developed the industrial efficiencies of the more established energy generation systems.
Experts caution that we are headed to a future where the world is littered with ‘green’ solar panels and other waste materials that won’t biodegrade and that our expectation of solar and wind as more ‘environmentally friendly’ might be over rated. Solar panels and batteries have a relatively short shelf life, most around 10-years or less, with manufacturers still looking to find suitable solutions for dealing with the massive waste headache we can expect in a decade’s time.
So perhaps when it comes to deciding the next electricity increase, there should be more emphasis on what electricity has cost the public already, and what it will still cost them in the future, and then rather take a deeper look at where wasteful expenditure and corruption in government can be averted in order to pay back the unsung citizen heroes who are always willing to do what it takes to survive, but are no longer blind to the blatant lack of accountability and control of their taxes and environments.
