Restructuring of the South African electricity distribution industry (EDI)

• Main Author: Coetzee, Noel G.
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10539/8328

Abstract The electricity distribution industry (EDI) restructuring in South Africa remains a long and tedious process. The neo-liberal ideology based on the neo-classical theory which is characterized by concepts such as buying, selling and owing are widely used in both developed and developing countries since the 1980s. The study argued the influence of the neo-liberal framework by way of exploring the concerns of organized labour with the restructuring of the EDI. The study was conducted in the Western Cape where the first Regional Electricity Distributor (RED) was launched as a possible forerunner for the rest of the country. The respondents composed of eleven representatives from key stakeholders as part of the restructuring negotiations. The findings showed that the neo-classical framework indicated its own limitations in that it only caters for broad macro-economic performance at the exclusion of social programs especially in developing countries. Based on the findings of the study and the limitations of the austere neo-liberal economic requirements, a number of recommendations which would reinforce and revise the current and out-dated EDI restructuring blueprint had been presented by stakeholders such as organized labour at the EDI restructuring negotiations. The study revealed that the new proposed blueprint recommendations as identified by organized labour and other role players recognized the current macro-economic challenges and as such should be engaged within a more refined corporatist institutional environment. Such an environment should recognize the role of a broader social constituency to be included. The concerns identified by organized labour should not be read in isolation of the broader macro context but as part of the solutions for a better restructured EDI.