Electricity Sector Liberalization in South Africa: A Comparative Analysis of Reforms and Outcomes

This paper explores the current crises in South African state-owned enterprises, through a case-study of the state-owned power utility, Eskom. In order to understand the extent of the crisis, as well as to explore the possible impact of the privatization, the paper will employ a textual analysis of various stakeholders in the South African Economy and a differences-in-differences analysis of economic development indicators against a benchmark of other emerging economies that have privatized their power utilities. The results of the study suggest that privatization of the electricity sector has a positive effect across various indicators. Further, my analysis suggests that privatization has disparate effects on electricity supply on urban and rural populations.