ANALYSIS: Joburg stands in the way of reform’s (almost) unstoppable momentum

Reforms under President Cyril Ramaphosa appear increasingly entrenched, with business confidence growing and Operation Vulindlela maintaining momentum. But local government and the rule of law could prove the limits of how far the reform drive can go.

While the reforms seen in government now appear to have become entrenched, questions remain about how much momentum has been built up behind the process. The next phase of the “Government-Business Partnership” is expected to focus on local government, which will pose perhaps impossible political questions and provide a hard limit to the extent of reform.

On Thursday, 20 August 2026, while speaking at the launch of the third phase of the partnership, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the reforms already achieved would not be reversed.

As he put it: “People have been concerned: are these reforms reversible? Will they be reversed one day, if something happens? My answer is that no, they are not going to be reversed. We want to embed them so that they do not reverse.”

Importantly, organised business appears to agree with him. Business For SA head Martin Kingston told The Money Show last week that the president is correct, these reforms will not be reversed.

This is important because it means that the government has successfully given business confidence in its reforms. This should mean business is incentivised to increase its levels of investment.

It also appears, at least for the moment, that Operation Vulindlela has momentum. Its boss, Rudi Dicks, and the National Treasury Director-General Duncan Pieterse both appear publicly bullish that this movement will continue.

While all of this is incredibly positive, it should be remembered how long it has taken. Ramaphosa became president in February 2018, but it was only in June 2021 that this writer felt confident enough to suggest that he was in a position to start to drive real reforms.

Shortly afterwards he twisted then energy minister Gwede Mantashe’s arm and allowed private companies to produce electricity and sell it. That decision, and the intense load shedding of two years ago, led directly to the huge investment we now see in renewable power.

But that was all five years ago. And it is only now that Eskom is in a position where it actually has too much power in the grid and thus has to ask independent power producers (IPPs) to curtail their production .

The reforms at Transnet, too, have taken some time to bear fruit. But coal companies like Exxaro have recently confirmed being able to sell more coal because the railway system has improved.

At the same time, Business Leadership SA’s Reform Tracker outlines how of the 247 deliverables that have been identified, 45 have been completed, 29 have been halted and 173 are still in progress. But, Business Leadership SA has also been very critical of what it sees as entrenched interests blocking the continued unbundling of Eskom. In its last quarterly report it warned that the process of reform could lose momentum or even stall.

While the implemented reforms should boost our economy there is very little clear impact that people can see as yet.