South Africa’s untold story of progress

Reforms could lift long-term growth rate from 1% to 3% or 3.5%

- SANJITH HANNUMAN

AT A RECENT JP Landman presentation, the renowned political analyst revealed something startling: very few attendees had heard of Project Vulindlela - South Africa's most significant economic reform initiative since GEAR in 1996.

This lack of awareness reflects a broader problem in how we consume news about our country. While scandal dominates headlines, a quiet transformation is taking place across multiple sectors of the South African economy. Project Vulindlela, meaning “open the way” in isiZulu, began as a controversial Treasury document in 2019 that critics dismissed as “rogue”. Today, it drives South Africa's economic reform strategy, targeting five critical bottlenecks: electricity, telecommunications, water, freight transport, and visas. The results are remarkable. Eskom has returned to profitability for the first time in eight years, posting a profit before tax of R23.9 billion for the financial year ending March 2025. Load shedding declined dramatically to 175 hours in 2024, compared to 6 367 hours the previous year. According to the CSIR, this reduced economic losses from R2.8 trillion in 2023 to R481 billion in 2024 - an 83% improvement. Beyond Eskom, a decade-long spectrum deadlock has been broken, with the March 2022 auction earning R14.5 billion and enabling nationwide 5G rollout. Water use licensing approval times have been slashed from 300 to 90 days, while 11 major bulk-water projects worth over R156 billion are now under way. Private operators are bidding to run freight corridors and port terminals, ending Transnet’s stranglehold on logistics.