Slowing down a moving train: the DMRE’s response to South Africa’s just energy transition

By Thokozani Chilenga-Butao Abstract South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) should have a key role in the just energy transition. It has been a regulator and policymaker of the country’s mineral resources and energy sectors since the 1800s. However, the DMRE is slowing down the energy transition, primarily due to its perception of the institution as being a bulwark against neocolonial and imperialist forces in South Africa’s mining and energy sectors. This self-perception has created contradictions in the DMRE’s internal bureaucracy and lost opportunities for the department to use its own policies and processes to facilitate the transition. Drawing on research finalised in 2023, this policy brief outlines the reasons for the DMRE’s lack of contribution to the energy transition and makes recommendations about how it can effectively contribute to this process. The policy brief then motivates for the DMRE to have a more proactive role in South Africa’s just energy transition.