Economic power is often political power. In 2024, the economy and representative democracy were the top ticket items for voters around the globe. Of 34 countries sampled by the Pew Research Center, 64 percent of adults characterized their countries’ economic situation as being in bad shape. Electricity fuels these economic situations. Rising energy costs have been linked as a contributor to global inflation. While not the sole cause, energy cost plays a significant role in the health of economies: the growth of modern industrial economies has become reliant on the constant supply of energy, providing necessities such as education, healthcare, food, and jobs.
Economic growth is closely linked with electricity use. As energy shocks resulting from the war in Ukraine, extreme weather, and other issues continued in 2024 for many countries, voters demanded politicians who would solve their hardships. In the United States, Donald Trump campaigned for reduced gasoline and energy prices with the slogan “Drill Baby Drill.” The popularity of Germany’s Green Party decreased as voters became more concerned with issues like peace and national security compared to climate change. Only 21 percent of Germans surveyed by the Bertelsmann Foundation considered the energy transition to be implemented fairly and 39 percent reported that the transition threatened the country’s economic prosperity, representing a “Greenlash.” British voters elected Keir Starmer, who has pledged to reach 95 percent clean power in the United Kingdom by 2030, but many voters remain worried about inflation and its effect on energy prices and cost of living.
However, the connection between energy and politics was perhaps best exemplified in South Africa’s 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections. South Africa possesses the most advanced, productive, and diversified economy in Africa, yet roughly 55.5 percent of its 63 million citizens live under the poverty line, and many lack consistent electricity. South Africa’s Gini Index—a statistical measure of income inequality in a population—is the highest in the world at 63 percent. South Africa’s unemployment rate is 32.1 percent, the third highest globally, and its unemployment rate for young individuals, those between 15 and 34 years old, sits even higher at 45.5 percent. 2024 marked a pivotal change in the South African political landscape when the African National Congress (ANC) lost its 30-year-long majority in the National Assembly parliament. Behind this power shift is growing public dissatisfaction with the ANC’s handling of energy and electricity.
The Intersection of Politics and Energy
Some critics called South Africa’s energy instability the defining issue of the last election. Established in 1923, South Africa’s state utility, Eskom has been in charge of the country’s electricity supply since then. However, since 2007, it has faced issues with generating enough electricity to meet the country’s demand, leading to “load shedding,” or the practice of managed rolling blackouts, due to electrical grid strain. Leading up to the 2024 election, Eskom’s distribution improved temporarily, and load-shedding eased for over 48 days, the longest period since 2022. Although opposition parties alleged that the ANC had manipulated Eskom to create the illusion of an improved condition, incumbent and now-re-elected President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is a member of the ANC, denied these claims.
When comparing the policies of the ANC and the Democratic Alliance (DA) party—the ANC’s largest opposition party—for electrification, the need for improved electrification appears in both parties’ goals. However, the ANC campaigned on the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET IP), which focused on generating US$98 billion in financing by 2030 for the energy transition towards renewables as part of the National Development Plan (NDP) to tackle long-standing issues of poverty, unemployment, and inequality in South Africa. By and large, the ANC’s campaign focused on restructuring Eskom based on the demands of South Africans and emphasized the importance of development, efficiency, and renewable energy. Still, while in power, the ANC had little successful investment in renewable energy, and power remained inconsistent.
In contrast to the ANC’s policy, the DA’s manifesto criticized the ANC’s inability to supply reliable power and called Eskom’s “monopoly” and the system of state-led power generation ineffective and outdated. The DA claimed that in 2022 alone, load shedding cost the South African economy 300 billion rand (US$15,997,440,000). The DA campaigned to create an open electricity market by changing Eskom’s structure and moving Eskom away from power generation. Other energy-related campaign goals included prioritizing grid infrastructure, increasing future planning, increasing competition in the sector, offering incentives to financially strong municipalities, and increasing energy diversity through renewable sources. Other opposition parties similarly proposed strategies to tackle load shedding, although energy policies as a whole differed along ideological lines.
South Africa's Energy System
South Africa has the greatest electricity production and export of electricity in Africa and ranks 22 in the world for both. Eskom also currently supplies over 80 percent of electricity generated in South Africa. However, many South Africans’ trust in Eskom has deteriorated over time due to Eskom’s load-shedding practices. Issues with these rolling blackouts escalated in 2022 with almost 300 load-shedding events. 2023 was an especially bad year: South Africa had one of its most severe periods of load shedding, including 91 days of blackout. Due to the fragility of South Africa’s grid, the country is highly vulnerable to natural disasters or extreme weather events. As electricity became inconsistent, many businesses turned to diesel generation to supply all sectors of the economy and society, which on top of costing between seven to eight times more than power from Eskom, resulted in shortages, further exacerbating issues of power access. Despite increased government enthusiasm for renewable energy, as seen in the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Program (REIPPPP), experts do not believe that South Africa and Eskom will be able to lower their emissions and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 due to coal dependence and continued emissions of greenhouse gases.
For electricity generation, 84.05 percent is generated from coal, 1.75 percent from oil, 4.17 percent from nuclear, and 10.02 percent from renewable clean energy—the most common being wind. As with many resources, electricity access is highly dependent on wealth: the richest 20 percent of South Africa’s population consumes more than half of the country’s electricity spending and consumption. According to surveys of South Africans by the International Energy Agency (IEA), almost a third of participants agreed that the cheapest energy source should be prioritized. 25 percent of participants supported renewable energy, and 14 percent specifically focused on non-environment-harming energy sources. Since 2000, electricity consumption per capita has decreased by 21 percent and energy intensity—measured through total energy supply per unit of economic output—of South Africa’s economy decreased by 28 percent. These trends are attributed to greater energy efficiency and the growth of South Africa’s service industry. However, the United States’ per capita electricity consumption is over 3.5 times higher. As extreme levels of electricity inequity ravaged South Africa, constituents called for reform in 2024.
The Results of South Africa's National Election
On May 29, 2024, South Africa’s voters went to the polls, and the ANC lost its majority in the National Assembly parliament for the first time in 30 years. The political party rose to prominence under Nelson Mandela and helped end apartheid—the country’s formal system of extreme racial segregation led by the white minority—in 1994. In 2019, the ANC won 57 percent of the national vote, but, in 2024, the ANC won only 40 percent in the parliamentary vote. Dissatisfaction with extreme inequality and inadequate supply of resources led many to stray from the ANC. Although the ANC’s Ramaphosa was reelected for a second term, he had to form a coalition with opposition parties. The DA—whose members are majority white—received 21 percent of the vote. Former President Jacob Zuma’s MK Party received 14 percent of the vote, and the Economic Freedom Fighters party received 9 percent of the vote. These parties all campaigned on distinct platforms but all criticized a lack of perceived progress brought by the ANC. Alongside the DA, the ANC entered a coalition with the Inkatha Freedom Party and the Patriotic Alliance, and the uncertainty leading up to the formation of the coalition was considered to be the highest level of political uncertainty South Africa had faced since 1994. Although President Ramaphosa called the coalition a symbol of national unity, some South Africans disagree that the political system is unified and argue that the coalition was formed out of political opportunism to advance the policies of smaller political parties.
While millions of South Africans struggled to access consistent power, stories of bribery and political corruption for personal finances have circulated, furthering bitterness toward the incumbent government. In April 2024, Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula of the ANC resigned after facing charges of accepting US$135,000 in bribes from a defense contractor during her three years of work as a defense minister. President Ramaphosa faced his own scandal when it was publicly revealed in 2023 that three years prior, over US$580,000 was stolen from his farm, where the cash was hidden within furniture, raising questions about his integrity and the origins of such large sums of money. The scandal led to a vote in the National Congress for impeachment, which he narrowly avoided. Although the investigation found him innocent, scandals around the ANC’s integrity led many South Africans to further pivot from the ANC and question the motivation of its leaders. Many South Africans did not believe that the ANC had done enough to improve the lives of South Africans. Millions lacked access to basic resources of water, electricity, housing, and sanitation: 30 people died from a cholera outbreak from contaminated water, and many citizens were also forced to siphon water illegally. Thus, for many South Africans, load shedding epitomized a broader trend of the ANC government’s inability to deliver on its promises of improving the quality and equity of government resources. As many South Africans have continued their criticism of the ANC’s progress in bringing electricity to the country, South Africa’s power utility system became a focal point in the election.
The pervasive nature of electricity and South African reliance on power for economic activity, the sporadic blackouts, and the unequal access to electricity in South Africa made energy an especially critical issue in 2024. This emphasis on energy is especially relevant as combating infrastructure and resource access problems is crucial for South Africa to increase its economic and racial equity. Following the election, Eskom is predicted to profit with 10 billion rand (US$546 million) in 2025, which would be its first year of profit in 8 years. As of now, issues of load shedding appear to have slowed, but have not disappeared completely: before December 2024, load shedding halted for nine months, but in the first two months of 2025, load shedding has already occurred due to the breakdown of multiple power plants. Still, as part of Ramaphosa’s 2019 reform plan, Eskom will likely soon be split into three separate companies, raising questions about future changes that will occur in the country’s energy sector. Ultimately, it is clear that energy is critical to the growth of the economy and progress toward equality in South Africa, but it is still early to judge the success of the calls for electricity reform brought in the country’s 2024 national elections.
