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Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) is set to launch the BLSA Reform Tracker, an online, publicly accessible tool designed to monitor the implementation and progress of government reforms. The initiative, reaffirmed by BLSA CEO Busi Mavuso, aims to foster transparency, identify bottlenecks, and empower both public and private stakeholders to collaborate more effectively towards an improved business environment.
First announced in May, the Reform Tracker will officially go live on August 14 in Johannesburg and August 15 in Cape Town. It will cover a range of reforms, particularly those where business and government are working in partnership.
“The tool will help track these initiatives, spotlight delays, and, ideally, accelerate reform implementation,” Mavuso stated in her weekly newsletter. “Business cannot thrive in a failing state. Years of loadshedding, inefficiencies at ports, and rising crime have significantly hurt our economy.”
BLSA argues that while business has played an active role in supporting government reforms, these efforts are not acts of charity—they are strategic investments made with the expectation of returns through improved economic conditions and a healthier business climate.
“Every rand we spend assisting with reform is a rand not spent on expansion, innovation, or operations,” Mavuso noted. “Our investors rightly ask why we must shoulder the cost of government failure.”
These interventions, Mavuso emphasized, were necessary due to the lasting damage caused by State capture, which eroded institutional capacity within government. Businesses continue to bear the burden of that decay through higher security costs, self-provisioned energy and logistics solutions, and reduced productivity.
The true test of reform, Mavuso insists, is whether it delivers real change. Hence, the Reform Tracker is intended to hold all parties accountable—with clear goals, timelines, and measurable results. “We need sprint targets, outcome-based evaluations, and regular progress assessments,” she said.
One of the most critical reform areas is South Africa’s electricity sector. While there has been significant progress, BLSA criticized recent legal actions by Eskom, which challenged the licensing of electricity traders—moves seen as undermining reform momentum. These reforms aim to create a competitive electricity market, with multiple suppliers and lower prices.“Eskom needs to align with the reform agenda,” Mavuso said. “The government’s energy reform plan is clear and constructive, and it has already attracted billions in private investment.”
Both BLSA and Business Unity South Africa have called on the government to safeguard the energy reform programme and urged Eskom to withdraw its legal challenges to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (Nersa) licensing decisions.
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Echoing that call, Electricity and Energy Minister Dr. Kgosientsho Ramokgopa on August 8 urged Eskom to halt legal proceedings and focus on enabling the new competitive electricity market. This includes transitioning Eskom’s transmission division into an independent system operator capable of efficiently managing the national grid and facilitating connections between multiple energy producers and customers.
Mavuso concluded that the country must focus on concluding these reforms swiftly and avoid legal setbacks that delay progress. The BLSA Reform Tracker, she believes, will serve as a vital tool in ensuring that reform efforts remain on track and accountable.
