SUMMARY: The report puts forward the case for a new Eskom and discusses the damaging misconceptions in the current discourse on energy transition in South Africa, the problems associated with the Eskom debt crisis, the challenges associated with the transition towards renewable energy, and the Independent Power Producer system and its contribution towards Eskom’s death spiral. The report aims to open the door to a fresh assessment of South Africa’s energy crisis and the longer-term challenges of transition.
KEY FINDING / RECOMMENDATIONS: The report recommends a forensic audit of Eskom’s debt, repudiating odious debt, investing funds from government institutions like the UIF and GEPF in Eskom and halting any plans to unbundle Eskom; moving towards a socially owned renewable energy sector of which Eskom is a driving part, building global cooperation around renewable energy technologies, ending the REI4P programme and focusing instead on building/rebuilding skills, competencies and technologies for the rollout of renewable energy; and basing governance on using public financing to build a public system and a future Eskom according to key public ethos principles, not subsidising a for-profit system.