South Africa: Progress towards municipal procurement

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy on 5 May published draft amendments to the Electricity Regulation Act 2006 to facilitate power procurement by municipalities. The City of Cape Town has taken the government to court to assert its right to procure power independently, with judgement in a case in the North Gauteng High Court on 11-12 May reserved. The municipality is one of several larger metropolitan authorities that have shown an interest in procuring their own power as prices from Eskom escalate and load-shedding has intensified.