The end of Eskom’s monopoly in South Africa is happening
After private meetings between Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) and Eskom, the groups have found common ground and support the coming reforms to South Africa’s national grid.
This follows weeks of public spats between the two organisations over the planned unbundling of the national power utility, specifically the transfer of its transmission assets.
The Department of Electricity and Energy has been working towards restructuring South Africa’s energy industry to increase competition in the sector.
These plans would also increase transparency surrounding electricity tariffs to help ensure fair pricing for South Africans.
The plan is to unbundle Eskom into three independent companies, working in generation, transmission, and distribution.
While Eskom has vaguely supported the plan, it has resisted the push from President Cyril Ramaphosa and private-sector proponents to move its transmission assets to an independent company.
Eskom’s resistance was supported by a December 2025 statement from the Electricity Department, which announced a “revised unbundling strategy” that allowed the utility to keep the assets.
This was immediately opposed by groups like BLSA, who cried foul and publicly lambasted Eskom for the revision.
Various experts and industry leaders accused Eskom of circumventing settled policy in a bid to maintain its stranglehold monopoly of the electricity market in South Africa.
The “revised policy” also prompted clarifying statements from Ramaphosa, who doubled down on the initial plan to fully split Eskom and transfer the assets.
Eskom objected to the restructuring due to potential financial downsides to its business, which would negatively impact existing investors.
Its transmission systems are among its highest-earning sectors, and the company believed that losing them could have major financial consequences.
Ramaphosa then formed the Eskom Restructuring Task Team to assess the feasibility of unbundling the power supplier and to address issues Eskom had raised.
In its first report, the restructuring team found that establishing an independent transmission systems operator (TSO) was feasible and recommended that the plans to unbundle Eskom go ahead.
During this time, public spats between the various sides of the argument continued, with even the presidency getting pulled in.
However, following private engagements, Eskom and the BLSA have now reached common ground, with both organisations expressing support for the proposed changes to the national grid.
Importantly, Eskom has agreed to the end-state of transferring the transmission assets.
“Both organisations fully support the electricity reform programme under the government’s leadership,
including the work of the Eskom Restructuring Task Team and the Phase 2 process now underway,” they said.
“We support the outcome endorsed by the President following the Task Team’s first-phase report – the
establishment of an independent Transmission System Operator with the transmission assets”.
They stressed that the plan must be implemented through a “carefully sequenced process that safeguards Eskom’s financial sustainability, respects the rights of lenders, and protects the country’s energy security.”
“We regard successful reform and a financially sustainable Eskom as complementary objectives, not competing ones.”
Eskom and BLSA said they recognised that there may be differences of opinion among stakeholders in this unbundling, but that solutions should be pursued.
“We will not always agree on every aspect of implementation. Where differences arise, we are committed
to engage directly and on the substance,” they said.
“Accelerating South Africa’s economic growth rate and the jobs that depend on it require these reforms to succeed, and both organisations are committed to playing their part in making that happen.”
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