Minister of Electricity and Energy Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says South Africa earned or is expected to have earned about R18.8 billion from electricity exports
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Minister of Electricity and Energy Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says South Africa is expected to have earned an estimated R18.8 billion from electricity exports to neighbouring countries.
Ramokgopa said this in a parliamentary reply, following a question from uMkhonto we Sizwe MP Moses Mbatha, who had asked how many Southern African countries South Africa supplies electricity to and what revenue is generated from those exports.
The minister said that South Africa supplies electricity to eight Southern African countries.
"The Republic of South Africa provides electricity to a total of eight Southern African countries. These are Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe," Kgosientsho said.
He added that the total monetary value of electricity sold to these countries is about R18.8 billion for the financial year ending 31 March 2026.
"The total monetary value of electricity sold to Southern African countries is forecasted to be R18,8 billion for the financial year ending 31 March 2026".
It was previously reported that Dan Marokane, Group Chief Executive of Eskom, said the utility has experienced an improvement in generation performance, resulting in periods where available electricity supply exceeds demand.
Earlier this week, Ramokgopa also revealed that electricity prices in South Africa increased by a staggering 987% between 2007 and 2023.
This comes as South Africans continue to be crushed by rising electricity costs, which have far outpaced inflation and are placing a heavy strain on households and businesses across the country.
Speaking to the SABC after presenting his department’s budget vote on Tuesday, Ramokgopa said the government is finalising a new electricity pricing policy.
We do appreciate the fact that there has been an exponential rise in the cost of electricity. Just a startling figure, between 2007 and 2023, electricity has gone up by 987%, and inflation has gone up in the same period by 150%," Ramokgopa said.
"That tells us that we are significantly below the disposable income of households. Household consumption constitutes over 60% of South Africa's GDP, so we are stunting growth in the country. But also undermines the ability of the industry to compete".
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