Business organisation Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busisiwe Mavuso has warned against a delay to the Independent Transmission Projects (ITP) programme and stresses the need for a firm timetable for the transfer of State-owned power utility Eskom’s transmission assets to the independent system operator.

Government in December 2025 announced that seven prequalified bidders (PQBs) had been selected for the inaugural ITP programme and that a request for proposals (RFP) would be published in the second half of this year.

However, the Department of Electricity and Energy (DEE) and National Treasury announced on October 1 that government had decided to undertake a further targeted round of PQB consultation before issuing the final RFP.

A second draft RFP package would be issued to the seven PQBs before the end of this year, the departments said.

In her latest weekly newsletter, Mavuso asserts that government must publish a full timetable through to financial close for the ITP programme, alongside a timetable for the launch of the South African Wholesalers Electricity Market (SAWEM), to build market confidence.

“An announcement earlier this month from the DEE and National Treasury has delayed the RFP from the third quarter of this year to the second quarter of next year. This is an unfortunate slippage of the timetable.

“The good news is that there has been real institutional capacity building to support the process. A delay is better than rushing to market with a call for proposals that can’t then be properly managed or leads to excessive pricing because bidders can’t assess the risks,” she notes.

Further, Mavuso says the creation of a new credit guarantee vehicle will protect investors from credit risks stemming from the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA), which is being unbundled from Eskom.

The credit guarantee vehicle has been created and incorporated by Treasury, international organisation the World Bank, nonprofit organisation Financial Sector Deepening Africa and the Development Bank of Southern Africa and, once in place, it will provide a risk management function that will ensure bidders have the confidence to make long-term multibillion-rand investments in South Africa’s transmission infrastructure.

“The guarantee vehicle will help, but having a robust institutional buyer underpinning it will provide additional confidence.

“The first phase of grid investment calls for only 1 164 km of new lines even though the NTCSA’s plan is to have 14 500 km by 2034. So, this procurement needs to be swiftly followed by others,” Mavuso says.

She concludes by noting that banks and fund managers will be critical investors in grid infrastructure, as well as in assisting Eskom with the conclusion of the unbundling and restructuring process.