Co-producing a Just Urban Transition in South Africa

Abstract

There is increasing global attention to the importance of ensuring that decarbonisation efforts and sustainability transitions do not exacerbate inequality and poverty. The task of facilitating a just sustainability transition is particularly complex in cities, with multiple and varied actors involved. South Africa’s current electricity crisis has mobilised a rapid transition to renewable energy, led primarily by private businesses and households. While this transition contributes meaningfully to South Africa’s decarbonisation commitments, it has the real potential to exacerbate inequality and leave low income communities behind. This paper draws on a case study of private investments in renewable energy in Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa. It used a mixed-methods approach, including online survey data, resident and key-informant interviews, media articles and policy documents to explore the motivations for and consequences of these private energy investments. The data shows that although private investments are largely a self-interested means of ensuring energy security and have the potential to undermine the government’s ability to ensure universal access to electricity, there is willingness by residents to contribute towards a collective solution to the electricity crisis. Residents cannot do this alone, however. This paper raises questions around the role of the state in directing the energy transition that is already underway towards reducing inequality and ensuring broad access to energy and associated benefits. We argue that collaboration between government and private actors will be a critical means through which a just energy transition can be co-produced within cities.