South Africa is currently generating more electricity than it requires, marking a significant turnaround after years of crippling power shortages and rolling blackouts, according to Deputy Minister of Electricity and Energy, Samantha Graham-Maré.
Speaking on CapeTalk with Clarence Ford, Graham-Maré credited the widespread adoption of rooftop solar installations by individuals and businesses for the shift in the country’s energy landscape.
“We are currently beating the demand,” she said. “During the height of loadshedding, many South Africans took the initiative to install solar panels, and that’s now paying off.”
She revealed that rooftop solar alone has contributed 7.3 gigawatts of electricity to the grid so far this year, easing pressure on the state-owned utility Eskom and enabling long-overdue maintenance on aging infrastructure.
The Deputy Minister also noted that electricity demand has dropped significantly since the peak of Stage 6 loadshedding in 2023, allowing Eskom to operate more efficiently and take units offline for essential repairs.
“We don’t want to create a false narrative that we’re completely out of the woods,” Graham-Maré cautioned. “We still have aging infrastructure. We still have power stations that need to be decommissioned within the next five years. But our generation is on the hill.”
The comments come amid growing public interest in energy independence and decentralised power solutions, with many citizens turning to solar power to shield themselves from past disruptions.
While challenges remain, the shift marks a hopeful chapter in South Africa’s long struggle with energy insecurity — and a testament to the role of citizen-driven solutions in addressing national infrastructure crises.
