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The report finds that the DMRE has exhibited significant reluctance to lead South Africa's just energy transition (JET), often viewing it as a 'western imposition'. This resistance is rooted in the historical minerals-energy complex (MEC) and a desire to protect vested interests in the coal sector and black industrialist projects. The document highlights a lack of policy articulation, poor stakeholder engagement, and internal organizational incoherence caused by repeated mergers and splits. It recommends that the successor departments—Mineral and Petroleum Resources, and Electricity and Energy—improve transparency, update the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) regularly, and align the transition with the post-apartheid racial transformation agenda.

The petition argues that the Upstream Petroleum Resources Development Bill (B13B – 2021) violates the South African Constitution and the One Environmental System (OES). It highlights the Bill's failure to provide adequate local economic development frameworks, its acceleration of fossil fuel extraction during a climate emergency, and its insufficient public participation and consultation processes. The petitioners urge the President to refer the Bill back to Parliament for redrafting to align with human rights and climate science.

The report evaluates how South Africa's sophisticated insurance industry can be leveraged to bridge a R2.3bn annual disaster funding gap and improve climate resilience. While the country has high insurance penetration (10%), non-life coverage remains low among vulnerable groups due to affordability and regulatory costs. The document highlights opportunities in index-based agricultural insurance, municipal risk pooling, and the integration of insurance into social grant systems via SASSA. It also identifies significant transition risks for insurers due to the economy's reliance on carbon-intensive assets and recommends streamlining Public-Private Partnership (PPP) regulations to incentivise private sector investment in adaptation.

The report outlines a total potential market size of R468 billion by 2030 for large-scale renewable energy in South Africa, split between private procurement (R214 billion), public procurement (R212 billion), and local component manufacturing (R42 billion). Private procurement is growing rapidly due to the removal of generation licensing requirements and the demand for energy security amidst loadshedding. Public procurement is driven by the REIPPPP and municipal tenders, though it faces policy uncertainty and municipal financial strain. Local manufacturing is supported by the South African Renewable Energy Masterplan (SAREM) and trade agreements, but is hindered by low cost imports and grid constraints. Key systemic barriers include severe grid capacity constraints in high-yield areas and a critical shortage of technical skills for installation and commissioning.

The report evaluates the CCIA for the Tetra4 Cluster 2 gas field expansion, which includes up to 400 test wells and 300 production wells. The author argues that the CCIA fails to meet South African legal requirements for a full life-cycle emissions assessment, specifically citing the omission of Scope 3 emissions from the final impact determination and several errors in Scope 1 calculations. Key technical failures identified include the use of outdated global warming potential (GWP) values, unrealistic flaring efficiency assumptions, and the omission of methane emissions from well drilling and operational gas production. Additionally, the report finds that the CCIA provides an unsupported claim that the project's LNG will replace more GHG-emitting fuels, while failing to account for the transport of 40% of the produced LNG.

The report critiques Tetra4's Cluster 2 gas expansion, citing significant data gaps in structural geology and hydrogeology. The author argues that the company's groundwater flow models and contamination simulations for methane and total dissolved solids (TDS) are unreliable because they ignore the complex nature of fractured-rock aquifers. Furthermore, the report contends that the proposed monitoring network is inadequate, relying on repurposed water-supply wells rather than strategically placed monitoring wells, and lacks essential analytical testing for carcinogens and radioisotopes.

The Centre for Environmental Rights, representing MEJCON-SA and MACUA, submitted a formal objection on May 9, 2023, against Tetra4 (Pty) LTD's application to amend its Water Use Licence (WUL) for the Cluster 2 expansion of gas and helium production near Virginia, Free State. The objection argues that the Integrated Water and Waste Management Plan (IWWMP) fails to adequately assess risks of groundwater contamination, radioactive waste, municipal water stress, and the compounding effects of climate change on a region critical for South African food security.

This document is a formal objection letter from the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), on behalf of the Mining and Environmental Justice Community Network of South Africa (MEJCON-SA) and Mining Affected Communities United in Action (MACUA), regarding Tetra4's application to amend its Water Use Licence (WUL) for the Cluster 2 expansion of gas and helium production near Virginia, Free State. The document includes the original objections and the corresponding responses from Tetra4, focusing on risks to groundwater, radioactive contamination, waste management, and the impacts of climate change on water security.

The 2023 Water Market Intelligence Report highlights a critical state of wastewater treatment works (WWTWs) in South Africa, with 39% requiring urgent intervention. It identifies three primary investment areas: the restoration of municipal infrastructure (estimated at R8.14 billion), the circular economy potential of sludge beneficiation, and the deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency (EE) technologies to reduce high operational costs. The report notes significant funding gaps and municipal capacity constraints but points to regulatory drivers, such as the 2019 liquid waste landfill ban, as catalysts for private sector involvement.

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) issued a statement to the Petroleum Agency of South Africa (PASA) raising concerns regarding transparency, environmental compliance, and climate impact assessments for onshore gas and petroleum activities. The CER highlights a lack of public information on rights holders and questions the legality of specific projects and the use of hydraulic fracturing.

The Zondo Commission concluded that state capture occurred on an 'extensive scale' in South Africa, characterized by a network of public and private actors who systematically redirected state resources for private gain. The Commission estimated that approximately R57 billion in public funds were 'tainted' by state capture, with the vast majority originating from Eskom and Transnet. Key mechanisms included the manipulation of procurement processes, strategic appointments of complicit officials, and the weakening of law enforcement and oversight bodies. The report recommends the prosecution of high-profile individuals, the recovery of funds, and sweeping institutional reforms to public procurement, SOE appointments, and the electoral system.

Civil society is challenging the South African government in the High Court in Pretoria over the social relief of distress (SRD) grant regulations. The litigation targets the R350 monthly means test, which the authors argue is below the food poverty line of R624 and excludes millions of needy citizens. The statement highlights systemic failures, including the non-payment of April and May 2022 grants due to delayed bank verification systems and an online-only application process that creates barriers for the poor. The authors advocate for the replacement of the SRD grant with a permanent universal basic income grant (UBIG) by March 2023 to eliminate poverty and stimulate the economy.

The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) challenges the Centre for Development and Enterprise's (CDE) opposition to a basic income grant (BIG) in South Africa. The IEJ argues that social protection, rather than austerity or market-led structural reform, is essential for economic growth. It asserts that cash transfers stimulate labor demand, entrepreneurship, and grassroots productivity, while progressive taxation to fund these grants can lead to positive GDP changes and employment surges without causing economic crises.

The report assesses the South African large-scale renewable energy market, focusing on the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) and the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2019. It identifies significant growth potential in solar PV, onshore wind, and battery storage, while highlighting critical barriers such as grid saturation in the Northern and Western Cape and the financial instability of the state utility, Eskom. The document also explores emerging opportunities in green hydrogen production and local manufacturing of components, supported by the Atlantis Special Economic Zone in the Western Cape.

South Africa has the technical potential to produce 3.2 to 4.5 billion litres of SAF annually, depending on the use of green hydrogen. The most cost-efficient route is the first-generation (1G) alcohol-to-jet (AtJ) pathway using sugarcane A-molasses, while the largest volume potential comes from invasive alien plants (IAPs) and garden waste via gasification and Fischer-Tropsch (GFT) synthesis. A domestic SAF industry could create over 100,000 direct green jobs, improve the national balance of trade by up to R159.5 billion per year, and provide alternative livelihoods for coal truckers in mining regions.

The report identifies a critical gap between South Africa's progressive water and sanitation policies and the actual delivery of services, which is hindered by systemic weaknesses, financial instability, and a lack of infrastructure maintenance. It argues that current efforts to improve outcomes focus too heavily on technical skills training while ignoring structural flaws in the local government fiscal framework and the erosion of Free Basic Services (FBS). The document recommends that the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) utilize Section 63 of the Water Services Act to enforce delivery standards, reform the infrastructure maintenance funding model, and adopt a co-production model for community participation.

This policy brief by the Stockholm Environment Institute analyzes the collapse of gold mining in the Free State Goldfields of South Africa to derive lessons for current and future decarbonization transitions in regional economies.

The document analyzes the multi-decade decline of the Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester, New York, and the city's subsequent economic transition. It presents two contrasting narratives: one highlighting the successful diversification into a high-tech hub and the other emphasizing persistent poverty, urban decay, and widening inequality. The study concludes that while leveraging existing infrastructure and university partnerships can spur growth, targeted interventions are necessary to protect low-skilled workers and address environmental legacies.

The South African Water Caucus (SAWC) issued a series of letters between April and August 2020 to the South African government, including the Minister of Water and Sanitation and the President, demanding emergency water and sanitation services. The correspondence highlights a critical lack of access to clean water and soap in numerous rural and informal settlements, which the SAWC argues increases the risk of COVID-19 transmission and violates constitutional rights. The document includes detailed annexures listing specific communities in the Western Cape, Limpopo, Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, and Free State suffering from dry taps, unreliable water tankers, and inadequate sanitation.

The project aims to protect 22 surface Strategic Water Source Areas (SWSAs) that supply 50% of the region's water. It proposes a $20 million investment ($10 million from GCF) to implement climate-responsive mapping, strengthen regulatory frameworks, rehabilitate catchments upstream of water infrastructure, and develop natural capital accounts. The initiative targets 5.8 million direct beneficiaries and seeks to mitigate risks from increasing droughts, rainfall variability, and invasive alien plants.