About
Decarbonising our energy economy is the single most important thing we can do for our planet and future generations, but we can't leave the current generation behind.
The conversation on South Africa’s transition to renewable energy is happening in silos, often driven by powerful and divergent interests.
A second challenge is the many threads that form part of the larger story, which is often communicated to the public in a disconnected fashion.
A notable example was the developments around gas: Huge news events like Shell’s scuppered gas explorations along South Africa’s Wild Coast triggered massive opposition, while the details of the gas Karpowership business deal itself, also in South Africa, raised the alarm.
Both high-profile cases captured the public imagination. Opposition quickly focused on procedural issues. Lost in the conversation were the actual merits of gas as an energy source.
This is typical of other elements of the energy debate.
While the Presidential Climate Commission has drafted a framework for what a just transition will look like in South Africa, there are many more details to be explored, and questions that need to be answered with nuances and without an agenda.
Yet, against a backdrop of competing interests, questions on the actual facts and merits of various options have become complicated. As there are no simple answers on how to effect a just transition, the loudest voices trumpet in the public arena with simplistic and divisive answers.
This project, run by news publication explain.co.za and funded by the African Climate Foundation, is an unbiased journalistic investigation into the various aspects of SA’s just transition, drawing on a range of experts. We publish our work with a number of respected news publications and on this site. If you would like to publish our work, please email info@explain.co.za.
The project objectives of this project are to create greater understanding and better debate around the various factors of the just transition among:
Thoughtleaders, and
Key affected South African communities, enabling them to participate in decision-making and advocacy in support of the United Nations sustainable development goal seven: affordable and clean energy.
We believe in not pre-supposing any preferred outcome in our line of enquiry. We have no “dog in this fight” so to speak, except an allegiance to the facts.
Meet the Team
Our commitment to fair and accurate commentary on the Just Energy Transition is baked into our DNA.
Verashni Pillay
Founder & Editor-in-chief
Kyle Smith
Account Manager
Mxolisi Kubeka
Operations Associate
Mxolisi is explain’s administrative and bookkeeping guy. A BCom Accounting graduate, he’s a big fan of crunching numbers, developing organizational processes and solving problems.
Tshego Mphahlele
Writer
Tshego is a writer and law student from Pretoria. A keen follower of social media trends, his interests include high fantasy media, politics, science, talk radio, reading and listening to music.
He is also probably one of the only people left who still play Pokemon Go.
Michelle Cooper
Writer
Ashleigh Da Silva
Video Editor
Sally Evans
Content Editor.
Tshego is a writer and law student from Pretoria. A keen follower of social media trends, his interests include high fantasy media, politics, science, talk radio, reading and listening to music.
He is also probably one of the only people left who still play Pokemon Go.
Michelle Cooper
Writer
Ashleigh Da Silva
Video Editor
Alumni Council
Nomaswazi Nkosi
Accounts Director
Natasha Joseph
Associate Editor
