South Africa's coal dependency at risk: billions in revenue and jobs on the line
South Africa's coal-dependent economy could lose billions in export revenue and thousands of jobs as more countries and companies seek carbon-free imports, the Net Zero Tracker watchdog said Monday.
Africa's most industrialised nation is one of the largest polluters in the world and generates about 80 percent of its electricity through coal.
This makes it "uniquely vulnerable" as companies decarbonise their supply chains and countries penalise carbon-intensive imports, according to the group, a collaboration of four non-profit organisations that tracks net zero pledges.
"78 percent of South Africa's exports, worth $135 billion (R2.57 trillion), are traded with 139 jurisdictions which have net zero targets in place. Collectively, these exports support over 1.2 million domestic jobs," the report said.
If the country fails to decarbonise its supply chains, it could lose some of that trade and related jobs, it said.
The group said South Africa could avoid this scenario by phasing out coal more rapidly and positioning itself as a "strategic supplier in low-emission value chains".
"South Africa has the tools to pivot - proven renewables potential, critical minerals, and seats at global tables," said Net Zero Tracker project lead John Lang.
The report argued that South Africa was "well-positioned to become a key supplier of low-emission goods".
One of the driving forces behind the decarbonisation push is the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanisms (CBAMs).
Adopted in 2022, the policy imposes a carbon price on imports of goods such as steel, aluminium and cement from countries with lower environmental standards.
A test period began in October 2023 before the law's full entry into force in 2026.
The South African Reserve Bank has warned that carbon-based tariffs could reduce exports by up to 10 percent and that CBAMs alone could shrink exports to the EU by four percent by 2030.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Citizen
4 hours ago
- The Citizen
No fines or penalties over Koeberg delays, Eskom says
The two disputes stem from the Steam Generator Replacement Project of Unit 2 at Koeberg Nuclear Power Station. Eskom has sought to clarify that two contractual disputes with Framatome, the contractor for the Steam Generator Replacement Project at the Koeberg nuclear power station, are being addressed through agreed resolution processes. The two disputes stem from the Steam Generator Replacement Project of Unit 2 at Koeberg Nuclear Power Station, which has now seen significant progress, following problems that contributed to a bout of stage 3 load shedding in March. Steam generators Framatome had taken over the contract to supply and install replacement generators at the power plant's two reactor buildings from Areva NP in 2018. The recent Long-Term Operation (LTO) programme for Unit 2 included the replacement of three steam generators, extensive inspections, and refuelling activities, ensuring continued safe and efficient performance. ALSO READ: Koeberg Unit 2 back online, but what caused the 'unplanned' trip? Eskom needed to replace the plant's six steam generators – three in each of its two units – to prolong its life by another 20 years. Media reports Eskom issued a statement on 21 July, following media reports, that the utility had been ordered by the high court to pay more than R1 Billion to Framatome over delays to the Steam Generator Replacement Project at Koeberg. According to reports, the Western Cape High Court agreed with the findings of an adjudicator who investigated the delays two and a half years ago, ruling that Eskom was at fault for the stoppage of work and had to pay for breaching its contract. Disputes The utility's spokesperson, Daphne Mokwena, said the two disputes were adjudicated between December 2022 and February 2023. Mokwena said in accordance with the contract, disputes are first referred to adjudication and, if not resolved, to arbitration. 'As Eskom was not satisfied with the adjudicator's decisions, the two matters were escalated to arbitration as per the agreed process. The arbitration was held from June to July 2025, and a decision is expected in the last quarter of Eskom's financial year. ALSO READ: Load shedding: Hiccup in Eskom's power plans 'Recent media reports appear to have mixed separate legal processes. To clarify, no new payments are currently due, and all actions taken by Eskom have been in line with the applicable legal and contractual procedures,' Mokwena said. Disagreement Mokwena added that although Eskom disagreed with the adjudicator's decisions, the utility complied with the requirement to implement the outcome and made payments in the interim. 'All payments had been made by March 2024 as part of standard contract processes—not as penalties or fines. At the same time, in March 2023, Eskom approached the Cape High Court to have the adjudicator's decisions set aside due to procedural irregularities.' Mokwena said the court only delivered its judgment on 17 July 2025, over a year late. 'Eskom is currently reviewing the judgment to determine the appropriate next steps. We encourage the public and media to trust the integrity of this process. Eskom is following the proper legal channels to resolve these matters responsibly, and we remain committed to transparency and accountability throughout. 'Most importantly, despite these disputes, the core technical work, replacing the steam generators on Koeberg Unit 2, has been completed. This is a major milestone that contributes to the safe and extended operation of the power station, helping to ensure energy security for the country,' Mkowena said. Eskom stated that it anticipates a decision on the arbitration hearing in the last quarter of its financial year. Koeberg Koeberg's units 1 and 2 have undergone life extension exercises. In July last year, the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) granted Eskom a licence to continue operating Koeberg Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 until 21 July 2044. As a result, Koeberg Unit 1 is expected to contribute over 930MW to the grid for another 20 years,' Mokwena said. ALSO READ: Eskom takes action after breach of online vending system

IOL News
18 hours ago
- IOL News
Brian Molefe's ongoing legal battle over R32m Eskom pension fund payout
MK Party MP and former Eskom chief executive Brian Molefe. Image: Jacques Naude / Independent Newspapers Former Eskom chief executive Brian Molefe will continue his fight against the power utility's pension and provident fund over the millions of rand he received in a payout in 2017. In 2018, the DA, trade union Solidarity, and the EFF obtained a Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, order reviewing and setting aside Molefe's reappointment as Eskom boss as well as the proposal granting him early retirement. At the time, the full bench of the high court – Judges Keoagile Matojane, Hans Fabricius, and Segopotje Mphahlele – also declared any payment or sum of money received by Molefe under any purported agreement between him and Eskom invalid and ordered him to repay the amounts within 10 days. Molefe unsuccessfully applied for leave to appeal to both the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading In their scathing ruling, the judges found Eskom's decision to waive penalties and buy Molefe an extra 13 years of service totalling R30.1 million after only 15 months' service at the age of 50 stretched incredulity and was unlawful for want of compliance with the Eskom Pension and Provident Fund's (EPPF's) rules. 'What is most disturbing is the total lack of dignity and shame by people in leadership positions who abuse public funds with naked greed for their benefit without a moment's consideration of the circumstances of fellow citizens who live in absolute squalor throughout the country with no basic services,' the high court reasoned. In July 2022, the EPPF was later directed by Judge Norman Davis to repay Eskom the R32.3m payout, including employer contributions, Molefe's monthly pension contributions, and his performance bonus pension contributions. Molefe was ordered to repay the fund about R10m together with mora interest, which is charged when payment is not made. The former Transnet chief executive has maintained that based on his calculations, the net amount that he has to repay is just less than R1.5m. The EPPF then became entitled to set-off against the amount due by Molefe against the net balance of the Transnet Retirement Fund lump sum he received upon receipt of a tax directive from the SA Revenue Service (Sars) on the tax payable on the amount. Molefe appealed the July 2022 judgment, and on July 11, 2025, another full bench of the high court – Judges Ronel Tolmay, Mmonoa Teffo and Rochelle Francis-Subbiah – upheld his challenge. Parts of Judge Davis' order were set aside and substituted. 'The matter is referred to oral evidence to determine the amount payable by the appellant (Molefe) to the first respondent (EPPF), before a different judge. 'The first respondent must discover all documents relating to the calculation and flow of money as well as all documents it intends to use during the leading of evidence within 15 days of this order,' the court ruled. Additionally, according to the judgment, Molefe must discover all documents relating to the calculation and flow of money and all documents he intends to use during the leading of evidence within 15 days of the filing of his documents. The judges continued: 'The judges stated that actuaries may file supplementary reports after receiving the aforementioned documents, and must do so at least 45 days before the matter is heard.' Molefe did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.

IOL News
20 hours ago
- IOL News
Dire predictions about renewable energy were all wrong
The High Mesa Solar facility is seen on Oct. 10 in Garfield County, Colorado. Image: Matt McClain/The Washington Post David Von Drehle Twenty years ago, former vice president Al Gore was traveling the world narrating a slideshow about the perils of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change; in 2006, the presentation reached far more people through the documentary 'An Inconvenient Truth.' Audiences would have been hard-pressed to imagine headlines from two decades later. Such as this one proclaiming, 'Solar is EU's biggest power source.' For the first time, in June, the European Union - one of the world's largest economies - produced more electricity from solar power than from any other source. Three-quarters of E.U. electricity in June came from nonfossil fuel sources. According to energy think tank Ember, solar power accounted for 22 percent of the European Union's electricity output for the month, barely more than Europe's nuclear plants. Natural gas and coal combined did not match either of these. More electricity was generated by wind and water combined than by fossil fuels. Or this headline stating, 'Clean energy just put China's CO2 emissions into reverse.' During the first quarter of this year compared with the year before, again for the first time, total carbon emissions from the industrializing giant fell not because of an economic recession but thanks to rapid advances in renewable technology, especially solar. Analyst Lauri Myllyvirta, a senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute, published the findings in Carbon Brief: 'The reduction in China's first-quarter CO2 emissions in 2025 was due to a 5.8 percent% drop in the power sector. … Increases in solar, wind and nuclear power generation, driven by investments in new generating capacity, more than covered the growth in demand.' Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading Headlines are not as sunny for the United States, where government enthusiasm for tackling the greenhouse problem is less consistent than in much of Europe. But even here, progress in recent years is striking. Consider: In March 2005, 27 percent of U.S. electricity consumption was supplied by nonfossil fuel sources. Fast-forward to March of this year: 42 percent of U.S. consumption was supplied by nonfossil fuel sources. Solar power, a negligible resource 20 years ago, has surpassed hydroelectric, while wind turbines supply more than twice the power of dams. And the Trump administration's hostility to some renewables is partly offset by its supportive attitude toward next-generation nuclear power plants, without which the world has little hope of getting its arms around the emissions problem. Total consumption of electricity in the U.S. was more than 15 percent lower this March than in the same month of 2005, yet during the past two decades the size of the U.S. economy more than doubled. That's another first: The timeless link between rising wealth and rising energy consumption has been broken; we've proved economies can grow robustly without using more power. I am not suggesting that these headlines add up to Mission Accomplished on the climate. Far from it. Humans continue to create far more carbon and methane emissions through our agriculture, industries, transportation and homes than the atmosphere can store without trapping additional heat. The resulting rise in atmospheric greenhouse gases will have predictable and unpredictable consequences that will challenge humanity for generations. What the headlines clearly show is that progress is not only possible - it is happening. Dire predictions that changes to the global energy supply would destroy economies and plunge civilizations into reverse have been proved wrong. Europe is three-quarters of the way to a green electrical grid. China is, quite possibly, coming down from peak carbon. In neither place have these achievements noticeably disrupted modern life. We're making progress through countless innovations: cheaper solar panels; safer nuclear generators; better batteries; more fuel-efficient cars, trucks and airplanes; smarter appliances; more productive farming; reforestation; and other modes of carbon capture and storage. And we have good ideas for further innovations - the best of which is a tax on emissions to make the hidden costs of greenhouse pollution plainly visible to the marketplace, thus stirring further innovations. Impossible? It seems so now. But so much seemed impossible in 2005 that now has come to pass. A carbon tax has strong bipartisan support because it is a far more efficient way to encourage the next burst of progress, compared with doling out government subsidies and incentives. Greenhouse gas pollution is not free. It comes at a price. Make that price plain to the irresistible engine of American capitalism and watch what the market can do. The heartening progress of the past 20 years will be just a prelude to an explosion of invention and discovery. This is no time to be discouraged. David Von Drehle is a deputy opinion editor for The Post and writes a weekly column. He was previously an editor-at-large for Time Magazine, and is the author of four books, including 'Rise to Greatness: Abraham Lincoln and America's Most Perilous Year' and 'Triangle: The Fire That Changed America.'