South Africa's power generation system has shown signs of recovery, leading to a decrease in power cuts, according to the Minister of Electricity, Kgosientso Ramokgopa. Ramokgopa stated at a media briefing in Pretoria that the recent reduction in load-shedding was not a coincidence. The country's generation capacity has now surpassed 29,900 megawatts, while demand stands at around 30,000 megawatts. As a result, South Africa now has electricity available to its citizens for approximately two-thirds of each day, marking a significant improvement from the previous situation where power cuts lasted up to 12 hours daily.

Ramokgopa emphasized that electricity generation is gradually catching up with demand, and he expressed confidence in resolving the issue of load-shedding. Since 2008, South Africa has faced power outages due to the inability of state utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. to meet the country's power demand, primarily due to aging and poorly maintained plants. In response to the deepening power crisis, President Cyril Ramaphosa made important appointments to Eskom's board and established the position of electricity minister to address the challenges. The electricity shortage has had adverse effects on business costs and has hindered the growth of the South African economy.

Ramokgopa outlined ongoing efforts to increase energy availability to 70% by the end of the year. These efforts include getting additional units operational at the Kusile and Medupi coal-fired power stations, which will add 4,000 megawatts to the grid throughout the year. The minister noted that South Africa currently has a 60% energy availability, up from around 48% prior to the latest interventions. Eskom has intensified maintenance work on its aging power plant fleet, even during the winter when electricity demand typically increases. Furthermore, the implementation of large-scale renewable energy projects necessitates an urgent upgrade of the transmission system.

Ramokgopa stated that various financing options, including leveraging private sector liquidity while retaining state control, are being considered to address South Africa's need for additional grid infrastructure. Eskom has allocated 72 billion rand ($3.8 billion) over the next three years to support its transmission development plan. The minister emphasized the importance of not postponing action on the transmission issue to avoid potential grid collapse, as the greatest risk lies on the transmission side rather than in generation.