Andre de Ruyter gives a high five to Cyril Ramaphosa

Former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter has praised President Cyril Ramaphosa for laying down the law about the liberalisation of South Africa’s electricity industry.

In his 2026 State of the Nation Address on 12 February 2026, Ramaphosa said the government is restructuring Eskom.

As part of the restructuring, it is establishing a fully independent state-owned transmission entity.

“This entity will have ownership and control of transmission assets and be responsible for operating the electricity market,” Ramaphosa said.

This restructuring has been slower than many stakeholders expected, and the President stepped in to drive it forward.

“Given the importance of this restructuring for the broader reform of the electricity sector, I have established a dedicated task team,” he said.

This task team reports to the National Energy Crisis Committee and will address various issues related to the restructuring process.

These issues include clear timeframes for its phased implementation, and the task team will report to Ramaphosa on progress within three months.

“In addition, we will this year commence the first round of independent transmission projects to enable private investment in expanding our national grid,” he said.

“We will work in each province to address transformer overloading, illegal connections, and equipment failure with the objective of eradicating load reduction by next year.”

Ramaphosa said the government is committed to the path that it has embarked on to modernise South Africa’s energy system.

He said South Africa must transform its energy system to ensure long-term energy security. This includes a big investment in green energy.

“By 2030, more than 40% of our energy supply will come from cheap, clean, renewable energy sources,” he said.

“We are establishing a level playing field for competition, so that we are never again exposed to the risk of relying on a single supplier to meet our energy needs.”

Andre de Ruyter welcomes President Cyril Ramaphosa’s statements

De Ruyter has welcomed Ramaphosa’s statements regarding energy in his 2026 State of the Nation Address.

He praised Ramaphosa for laying down the law and providing clarity on the future of Eskom’s unbundling process.

He told Sunday Times that the unbundling enables more private generation capacity to be brought onto the grid earlier.

It also removes any suspicion of a conflict of interest among the various parts of this competition – generation, transmission, and distribution.

“That was the intent of electricity reform all along, since the 1998 White Paper,” De Ruyter told Sunday Times.

Business Unity South Africa chief executive Khulekani Mathe was also upbeat about Ramaphosa’s energy reform announcements.

“The direction on Eskom restructuring, particularly progress towards an independent transmission operator, was clear,” he said.

He also welcomed the need for independence and asset transfer to the new Transmission System Operator outside of Eskom’s holding company.

“Creditors, industry, and business wanted something simple and clear, and we heard this in the President’s speech,” he said.

“We are looking forward to hearing more about the new task team, but are pleased to see that National Treasury and the Minister of Finance will be part of it.”

He added that the three-month deadline for reporting back is important, given the need to move on this issue quickly.