Raising gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) to between 18% and 20% of GDP is key to lifting growth to the 3% target, The Presidency’s project management office head Rudi Dicks argues. While also asserting that there are signs that Operation Vulindlela-linked reforms are starting to spur higher levels of capital investment in the economy. Pressed during a PSG webinar to put a figure to the investments catalysed by Operation Vulindlela, Dicks stated that R500-billion had been unlocked mainly in the form of renewable-energy projects, but also in the areas of telecoms, transport and water.
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The new regulations requiring buildings to display their energy performance certificates (EPCs), which rate their energy-use efficiency, at entrances come into force on December 7. While undertaking the process to obtain an EPC may seem difficult for building owners and tenants, the first step is to register their buildings and then to take progressive steps to gather the information needed, conduct audits and receive EPCs that display the energy efficiency of the building and its operations.
Eskom CEO Dan Marokane has called for South Africa’s Transmission Development Plan (TDP) to be complemented by a “regional TDP” to support the development of the grid infrastructure required to enable expanded electricity trade across the Southern African Power Pool. Speaking at a B20 side event on the just energy transition hosted by Standard Bank, Marokane reported that the Department of Electricity and Energy, which is Eskom’s shareholder department, was urging Eskom to adopt a regionally focused strategy now that its operational problems had eased.
As South Africa hosts the G20 leadership summit this week, President Cyril Ramaphosa has positioned the moment as evidence of national progress. Yet the broader economic picture remains mixed, with many of the country’s underlying structural problems persisting despite pockets of improvement. Ramaphosa’s upbeat public messaging has been somewhat undermined by the fact that the leaders from several of the world’s leading economies have declined to attend the G20, including US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo and Argentinian President Javier Milei. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s attendance also remains uncertain.
The South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) has indicated that it will move to assess what remains of the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) intellectual property, which was mothballed in 2010, before initiating a process to select a partner to co-develop the nuclear technology. CEO Loyiso Tyabashe has welcomed Cabinet’s decision to lift the PBMR from care and maintenance and transfer custodianship of the small modular reactor (SMR) technology to Necsa.
Engineering group Sandvik’s ‘The future of mining talent: What STEM graduates really think’ report says that, while awareness of mining remains low among young engineers, many are open to joining the sector once they understand its modern realities and role in tackling the global energy transition. While the global mining industry faces a growing shortage of engineering talent, this challenge could be turned into one of the sector’s greatest opportunities, the report states.
It is possible to bridge South Africa’s engineering and construction sector capacity gaps through education and training initiatives that provide a strong foundation for future infrastructure development projects, says civil engineering professional body South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE). The existing infrastructure gaps – owing to the lack of infrastructure maintenance, operationality, investment and skilled engineers – are not insurmountable, says SAICE advocacy committee members John Samuel and Wynand Dreyer who are both public–private partnerships (PPP), Private Sector Participation (PSP) and infrastructure operations and maintenance experts.
The Norwegian investment fund for developing countries, Norfund, has invested $75-million (more than R1-billion) in South African independent power producer (IPP) and renewable energy (solar, wind and battery storage) developer Mulilo, the latter has announced. This investment was managed through Norfund’s Climate Investment Fund. Since 2023, Mulilo’s majority shareholder has been Danish group Copenhagen Investment Partners (CIP). The latter invested in Mulilo through its New Markets Fund I.
Cabinet has officially approved the lifting of the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) nuclear technology from care and maintenance. “This decision provides the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) with a legal basis to engage with potential international partners and investors for the revival and further development of the project,” Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said in a post-Cabinet briefing.
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis and Urban Waste Management MMC Grant Twigg this week powered up the city’s new gas-to-energy plant at the Coastal Park Landfill. The plant generates enough electricity to power 4 300 households by converting landfill gas to power.
INDUSTRY NEWS
- NERSA appoints Electricity Market Advisory Forum to guide power-market reformDecember 19, 2025 - 2:04 pm
- Eskom offers more details on envisaged roles of the NTCSA and the TSODecember 18, 2025 - 11:04 am
- NTCSA says any electricity deal to salvage Mozal must ensure its financial sustainabilityDecember 17, 2025 - 3:01 pm
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