South Africa: Nearly 500 Days Without Load Shedding, the Economy Focuses on Investment and Employment

South Africa is on the verge of reaching nearly 500 consecutive days without load shedding, a milestone made possible by the five interventions announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2022 and the return to service of over 6,100 megawatts on the Eskom grid. Eskom's Energy Availability Factor reached its highest level since 2020 and diesel spending dropped by over 80%, according to David Jacobs, Chief Director Cluster Communication at the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS). A portfolio of 263 infrastructure projects valued at nearly 2 trillion rands is advancing in development, including 37 projects worth 69 billion rands completed in 18 months. The country recently left the FATF grey list and saw its sovereign rating upgraded, which constitute key achievements. Phase 3 of the Government Business Partnership, launched last month, aims to create over one million jobs by 2030 via energy, logistics, mining, tourism, agriculture, and infrastructure. Targets include: commissioning the wholesale electricity market by 2027, a 32 GW grid connection pipeline, 180 million tonnes of freight, 500 billion rands in transport-logistics investments, over 50 billion rands in mining capex, and 3.8 million international tourists by the end of 2027. These advances contrast with a cyclical downturn: after six quarters of growth, the economy contracted by 0.2% in the second quarter of 2026, penalized by mining, manufacturing, and trade. The challenge is to transform restored energy reliability and infrastructure execution capacity into sustainable investment.