The EGI-SA assessment report is written against a backdrop of significant national concern over how to meet the growing demand for electricity, Eskom’s request for a major increase in the price of electricity, and the State-owned utility’s own challenges of corporate governance. The assessment highlights a systemic lack of clarity concerning roles and responsibilities in the electricity sector, with an associated extended period of policy opaqueness and uncertainty. Despite an initially clear vision for energy policy, established after extensive collaboration and cooperation, a sense of drift – possibly even destructive competition – has subsequently characterised policy development in the sector. Infrastructural and institutional capacity has suffered.