South Africa targets ‘highly concessional’ terms as it moves to negotiate $8.5bn climate deal

If South Africa is unable to secure highly concessional terms from the international partners that have offered $8.5-billion to support the country’s energy transition and to provide social protection for workers and communities associated with the coal value chain, it will not pursue the transaction, an official in The Presidency said on Tuesday. Speaking at an event hosted on the side-lines of COP26, Rudi Dicks, who is programme management officer in the private office of the President, emphasised that no agreement had yet been concluded and that South Africa could still “walk away if we feel that the conditions are too onerous”.