New Reform Tracker highlights political resistance

Political resistance has been cited as one of the biggest obstacles to implementing economic reforms that are key to growth and central to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s economic agenda. 

This view is contained in an analysis of data from a newly launched independent tracker of government reforms, launched this week by Business Leadership SA (BLSA) in partnership with research and advisory firm Krutham. The Reform Tracker seeks to turbocharge the monitoring and evaluation of economic reform implementation.

Reforms that are part of the president’s grand plan include:

• deregulating the electricity market by opening up generation and distribution to independent operators;
• forming an independent transmission company to encourage competition in the market;
• increasing battery storage capacity;
• opening the gas bid window;
• opening the rail network to private players;
• bringing in private operators to help manage the ports; and
• establishing a transport regulator to oversee the entire sector and set uniform rail tariffs to prevent monopolistic pricing.

The government has also promised to:

• make it simpler to obtain water use licences;
• reform the visa regime; and
• reform local government to strengthen service delivery in municipalities. 

BLSA said its Reform Tracker would continuously monitor nearly 240 promised reforms in three categories: criminal justice, governance and economic sectors. Each reform is reviewed quarterly and scored based on its progress — whether it is on track, experiences challenges, or encounters critical obstacles.

In its first-quarter update, it said 26 reforms had been completed, 59 were showing strong progress, 108 were on track but needed attention, and 19 reforms faced major obstacles. 

Facing obstacles are:

• the gas bid windows for three sites;
• the road map for passenger rail devolution from Prasa to capable local and regional authorities;
• energy production in Boegoebaai in the Western Cape; and
• the establishment of a dedicated SAPS rail team, among others.

Obstacles are also hampering:

• the new Transnet Freight Rail scheduling system;
• the road to rail strategy; the corporatisation of the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA);
• establishing a clear pathway to Transnet moving 193-million tonnes of freight;
• water hydro power processing;
• interventions at municipalities that fail to meet minimum requirements; and
• the establishment of the Corporation for Deposit Insurance.

Cecilia Schultz, an analyst at Krutham, pointed to the delays in the finalisation of the rail devolution strategy, which had not happened despite being recommended under the national rail policy adopted by the cabinet. 

“The previous administration started to develop a rail devolution strategy and the new administration is expected to finalise it. Prasa’s centralised model has underperformed, prompting the 2022 National Rail Policy to support municipal devolution. Originally scheduled for completion by 2024, the strategy has been delayed continuously, and no draft version exists,” said Schultz.

Schultz said 16 interventions in the economy were classified as “stalled”, including electricity imports from Mozambique, new coal-powered electricity from bid windows 1 and 2, floating gas projects, the Rail Network Statement, a national passenger rail policy and the National Rail Bill.

“The transport department aims to draft a National Rail Bill, an important piece of legislation to oversee all aspects of rail reform. We stopped tracking this specific reform at end-June 2025 and merged it with a similar reform — ‘finalise the National Rail Bill to establish a legal framework for a competitive rail sector’.”

While the Reform Tracker, which is available to view and analyse on BLSA’s website, notes progress at varying levels in all other economic policy interventions, it noted significant blockages in the policy development process when it came to passenger rail.

Schultz said no metro had taken operational control of passenger rail as yet, in line with Operation Vulindlela’s plan for the segment, and pilot implementation and outcomes will only emerge post-2026. The national rail policy provides a legal and policy framework for devolving passenger rail to cities, with business plans for devolution models in development still ongoing.

Freight rail is marked as progressing well, with lags occurring only in turnaround plans, Transnet operational reforms, road haulage and the finalisation of the National Rail Bill, which paves the way for an open and competitive rail sector.

“The white paper on national rail policy was developed and gazetted for implementation in 2022. The Economic Regulation of Transport Act, which was signed into law in June 2024, has not been fully enacted. The white paper sets a 2050 vision for a competitive, integrated and sustainable rail system, calling for third-party access, institutional reform and a national rail master plan.

“The act gives legal effect to these goals by establishing the Transport Economic Regulator and enabling third-party access, consolidating regulation across all transport modes. The Railway Safety Bill was passed by the National Assembly in October 2023. The national rail master plan and the Rail Transportation Bill are still under development,” Schultz wrote.

In the reform area of energy, the tracker shows progress in the reduction of load-shedding with a higher energy availability factor, pathways to electricity markets, procurement of power by municipalities from households and similar progress. 

Still to be concluded are reforms such as municipal distribution, transmission reform, the Eskom land use programme, and procurement for the 2019 and 2024 iterations of the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP).

By providing an independent view of reform progress, the tracker will strengthen the culture of delivery that Operation Vulindlela seeks to embed in government — 

—  Deputy finance minister Ashor Sarupen

Rudi Dicks, head of the project management office in the Presidency, told Business Times on the sidelines of the launch in Cape Town, economic reforms were gaining traction despite any political resistance captured in the data. 

“This is a business tracker, so we’re not going to tell them what they would want to monitor. If they feel that they want to put in issues that relate to political reforms, that’s not our agenda. That ultimately is the decision of whoever wins an election and whoever the ruling government is at the time, and the appointment of the president.

“As a public servant, we don’t have any power [over] those items. But I think reforms, broadly, are of a technical nature. It’s about delivery. It’s about outcomes. And that’s in our control with the support and the political leadership that we have with President Ramaphosa and his cabinet. Other issues of a political nature would be engaged elsewhere, I suppose.”

Dicks welcomed the Reform Tracker as an independent tool that tracks reform progress and gives its own independent view, which improves accountability and transparency.

Deputy finance minister Ashor Sarupen said the Reform Tracker with quarterly updates and a mechanism for businesses to provide immediate feedback, would complement Operation Vulindlela’s public reporting.

“Transparency matters because it allows citizens, investors and social partners to hold us accountable. By providing an independent view of reform progress, the tracker will strengthen the culture of delivery that Operation Vulindlela seeks to embed in government.”

The implemented reforms would  define South Africa’s economic trajectory for the next decade and demand “persistence, collaboration, and an unwavering focus on outcomes” for their aims to be realised, Sarupen said.

Busisiwe Mavuso, CEO of BLSA, said the Reform Tracker would be useful in benchmarking the milestones achieved through Operation Vulindlela and other critical reforms, providing information to South Africans and business leaders on these network industries.

“The tracker is a strategic tool to support government and business in understanding reform dynamics — what’s working, what’s stalled, and what’s needed to unlock progress. It empowers business leaders to make informed decisions based on credible, up-to-date data.”