BLSA reform tracker shows steady gains but flags electricity and governance setbacks

SOUTH Africa's reform programme continues to make measurable progress, although momentum has slowed and key setbacks have emerged, particularly in the electricity sector, according to the second Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) Reform Tracker review released on Thursday.

- YOGASHEN PILLAY

STUART Theobald of BLSA said the sector was one of the few areas to have moved backwards, following a decision by the Department of Electricity and Energy to revise Eskom's unbundling strategy. I SUPPLIED

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BLSA said the overall reform score has increased by 23.7% since tracking began in March 2024, reflecting continued advancement across structural reforms aimed at restoring economic growth and competitiveness.

However, the latest quarter also recorded backward movement in electricity reform and slower progress in governance-related reforms.

Stuart Theobald of BLSA said South Africa entered 2026 with encouraging but uneven reform outcomes.

“The cumulative evidence on South Africa's reform programme collected by the BLSA Tracker now spans 21 months and the data tell a consistent story: the country is making measurable progress on the structural reforms required to restore growth and competitiveness,” he said.

Theobald noted that after rising 2.3% between September and December 2025, the overall score now reflects nearly a quarter of reforms completed since March 2024.

The tracker monitors 245 individual reform deliverables, of which 34 are complete, 192 are in progress and 19 have stalled or been abandoned.