Mark Allewell | The private sector must lead in defining & shaping sustainable solutions to South Africa’s challenges 

The 2025 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) survey for South Africa, which was launched in early June, demonstrates a troubling picture for South Africa’s future economic prospects.

Backed by National Treasury, the survey reveals that the country’s economic growth is stalling, with debt-to-GDP sitting at 77.4%, unemployment at 32.6%, and only 1.5% projected growth for 2025, major reforms are still needed to steer the country into prosperous waters.

While Operation Vulindlela has been integral to our long journey to recovery, with 74% of its phase one reforms completed or on track, the OECD has, however, noted delays in the execution of key economic drivers.

Among the various economic sectors across the country, it was also highlighted that while loadshedding dropped from 289 days in 2023 to 69 days in 2024, the national grid remains fragile, compounded by hindered access to the grid for IPPs, Eskom’s own debt, as well as municipal debt owed to the power utility.

Although there have been significant first steps taken by the government and Eskom in unbundling transmission operations, tariff reforms, and substation investment, loadshedding remains at risk.

Adding to this, the OECD further noted that current carbon tax exemptions protect around 95 percent of emissions, effectively defeating the purpose of the tax and undermining fiscal potential. With the tax currently at R236 per tonne, National Treasury has indicated the narrowing of exemptions from 2026 onwards.

Recently, Eskom was granted exemptions from the minimum emissions standards for eight of its coal-fired power stations. Without these exemptions (albeit less than what Eskom applied for) South Africa would have descended into unimaginable levels of rolling blackouts.

It often feels as though South Africa truly lives month-to-month and year-to-year when it comes to the stability of its electricity grid. If it’s not Eskom teetering on the brink of losing its license to generate electricity from coal, it’s a stalled economy driving down electricity purchases and fostering a culture of non-payment—while consumers still face steep tariff increases that feed into the vicious cycle in which we remain trapped.

Of course, while reforms by the governmentslowly move on, the private sector is well-positioned to lead in defining and shaping sustainable solutions to our country’s challenges.

At least where it concerns the stability and security of our national grid, new generation is not the only solution for more power. Demand side management (DSM) is just as instrumental and effective in decreasing the strain on the national grid.

Geyser technology is evolving to meet the energy challenges South African households face. With a connected controller installed on the geyser, homeowners can manage hot water heating directly from their smartphone, switching it on or off, adjusting temperatures, and setting advanced schedules with multiple time and temperature blocks throughout the day.

This level of control not only supports solar integration and energy efficiency today, but also positions households to benefit from time-of-use tariffs as they’re introduced in future, reducing costs and easing demand on the national grid.

Through an installed fleet of over12,000 smart geysers with Sensor Networks technology, average data indicates that large households are saving on average over R400 per month in electricity costs. This equates to approximately 50,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity saved each day, roughly 1,500 megawatt-hours (MWh) per month and over 18 gigawatt-hours (GWh) per year.

At an average electricity price of R3 per kilowatt-hour, these savings translate into nearly R55 million a year in reduced energy costs for consumers.

In addition to this, while geysers are not only among the highest consumers of household electricity, they’re also one of the most frequent sources of insurance claims, often resulting in costly water damage. Smart geysers are reducing claims and lowering insurer payouts by detecting early signs of failure, such as leaks, pressure build-up, or overheating and automatically shutting off the geyser before damage occurs.

While other solutions, such as solar and gas geysers are more costly and sometimes take years to pay off, smart geysers remain economical and affordable, empowering more South Africans to be a part of taking pressure off our electrical grid. The rapid rollout of home energy management technology offers a practical, scalable solution to South Africa’ ongoing energy challenges.

It is estimated that if 1 million smart geysers were installed in electrical geysers across the country, it could save the same amount of energy that would be produced by a new 1700-megawatt power station, equating to sparing South Africans from a full stage of loadshedding While a new power station would cost Eskom over R50 billion, one million smart geysers would be a tenth of that bill.

So, what is the holdup? There are geyser manufacturers lined up and ready to partner with smart technology developers, aided by telecommunications companies who will ensure improved, stable and reliable connectivity for the smart technology to be accessible anywhere in the world, even when the geyser is stored in the most remote places, such as ceiling cavities or behind walls.

The private sector has sustainable solutions and resources ready to conserve the country’s energy demands. But a whole-of-society approach must be fully embraced by the government in realizing that coordination and collaboration between both the public and private sectors are the silver bullets to many of our economic and infrastructure problems.

Mark Allewell, Founder and CEO at Sensor Networks, Wayne Vertue, Country Director at Ariston SA, and Malcolm Subramony, Executive Head of Department for IoT Connectivity at Vodacom Business