JOHANNESBURG, Gauteng — The ruling party’s latest ANC service delivery review has outlined a complex but progressive landscape across South Africa’s essential utilities and housing sectors. Convening at Luthuli House, national executive committee members evaluated the practical outcomes of the 2021 local government elections manifesto, celebrating the stabilization of the national power grid while issuing stern warnings to underperforming local municipalities.
While the five-year assessment highlighted notable systemic improvements, leadership conceded that significant hurdles remain—particularly regarding the employment of highly skilled personnel and the urgent need to bolster reliability in municipal water networks.
Grid Stabilization and the Privatization Debate
Addressing the energy sector, ANC NEC member and Minister of Electricity Dr. Kgosientsho Ramokgopa confirmed that the crippling era of load shedding has been officially eliminated during the review period. However, he cautioned that “load reduction” remains a persistent, unresolved bottleneck specifically within Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
Dr. Ramokgopa also highlighted a modern paradox in the country’s energy landscape: while electricity supply has finally reached a national surplus, the cost of power has become increasingly unaffordable for poorer households. He noted that new policy frameworks are currently being formulated to address this pricing crisis.
The briefing also tackled fierce pushback from labor unions regarding the proposed Transmission System Operator (TSO). Unions have expressed concern that establishing an independent TSO is a backdoor method for privatizing the electricity sector. Dr. Ramokgopa firmly dismissed these fears, assuring stakeholders that he will actively engage with unions to clarify the process.
“Transmission will never be privatized. It is a naturally occurring monopoly, and the President has made that unequivocal,” Ramokgopa stated. He explained that his current mandate, alongside the Minister of Finance and a specialized technical team, is to oversee the complex transfer of assets from the Eskom group to the newly formed TSO. Because the TSO will operate as a wholly owned state entity, the transfer requires establishing a fair market value for the assets to properly compensate Eskom and carefully manage any resulting fiscal exposure on the national balance sheet.
Tackling Spatial Injustice and Housing Backlogs
Shifting focus to human settlements, ANC NEC member and Minister of Human Settlements Thembi Simelane reported a dramatic reduction in the country’s informal settlements, which have dropped from 16.2% to 8.1% over the past five years.
Simelane emphasized that the government’s housing strategy goes beyond simply building mixed-development projects; it is fundamentally designed to dismantle the historical economic impediments of spatial injustice. To illustrate the scale of this mandate, Simelane revealed that the current human settlements portfolio encompasses 1,887 targeted projects spanning all nine provinces.
Operating across 174 municipalities, these initiatives represent a massive recorded investment value exceeding R160 billion. The department expects these projects to deliver approximately 900 units and related infrastructure outputs, ultimately benefiting more than 385,000 households.
Water Infrastructure and the Threat of National Intervention
On the water and sanitation front, Deputy Minister David Mahlobo detailed aggressive financial interventions aimed at developing water resources and rehabilitating failing infrastructure. According to Mahlobo, roughly R156 billion has been channeled through grants and subsidies over the last half-decade to prop up local service delivery.
Despite the heavy capital injection, Mahlobo stressed that financial subsidies are useless without the technical expertise to manage them, noting that deploying skilled professionals is the only way to ensure that municipal taps actually release water.
He also issued a blunt ultimatum to failing local governments: the national department is fully prepared to invoke its statutory powers and take over where local councils fall short.
“We are not going to say it’s not our job. You do your job,” Mahlobo warned. “But if you can’t do your job, we cannot actually expose citizens to mediocrity and non-delivery.” He affirmed that national intervention will be swift in municipalities that fail to utilize available statutory resources.
With the five-year review now complete, the party is immediately pivoting toward the future. The organization is scheduled to officially launch its 2026 local government elections manifesto next Sunday, the 23rd of August.
