After years of organising our lives around darkness, there is something powerful about being able to plan around light. A business can serve its customers. A learner can study. A household can approach the evening with greater certainty. These everyday freedoms give Eskom’s recovery a meaning that reaches far beyond its balance sheet. On 19 October 2026, SAnews reported 520 days without load shedding. Localised outages and load reduction remain challenges in some communities, but the improvement in national electricity supply is an achievement worth recognising. We celebrate Group Chief Executive Dan Marokane, Board Chairperson Mteto Nyati, and the employees, engineers and technical teams helping bring Eskom back into the light. Both leaders remain at the helm as the utility advances its recovery.
There is another part of this story that deserves attention: Eskom’s increased commitment to communities. In its 2025 Integrated Report, Eskom disclosed R146.2 million in corporate social investment committed spend, up from R93.1 million the previous financial year. That is an additional R53.1 million—approximately 57% growth. Such an increase deserves recognition in its own right. At a time when South Africa needs sustained investment in people and opportunity, an expanded community investment commitment is a welcome signal.
The figures cover 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. Eskom defines committed spend as funding committed or paid towards CSI, so the total represents a combination of commitments and expenditure, rather than donations confirmed entirely as already disbursed. Through the Eskom Development Foundation, the organisation reported support across education, health, food security, enterprise development, the environment and community infrastructure. Its reported beneficiary reach increased from 272,217 to 1,203,566. These figures describe reported reach; lasting outcomes require further evidence.
Education was the largest investment area, accounting for R38.2 million. Support spans early childhood development through to tertiary education, with particular emphasis on science, technology, engineering, mathematics and innovation. The report also records 26 mobile classrooms for five schools in KwaZulu-Natal, a multipurpose community centre in Empangeni, and assistance to communities affected by flooding. These are practical contributions to the places where people learn, work and rebuild their lives.
We also recognise Mologadi Motshele, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Eskom Development Foundation, and the Foundation team. Eskom’s October 2026 statement identifies her in that role. Behind community programmes are people carrying the responsibility of delivery, and their contribution deserves acknowledgement alongside the leadership guiding the wider institution. The financial recovery adds to the encouragement. Eskom reported R30.3 billion profit after tax for the year ended 31 March 2026, following a restated R14 billion profit in FY2025. Operational improvements and higher electricity tariffs contributed to the latest result. For the CSI sector, the combination is encouraging: an institution restoring its operational and financial position while reporting a substantially increased commitment to community investment.
The next phase should build on that progress. We would welcome the opportunity to test the Responsible Business Scorecard with Eskom, mapping its CSI funding across survival, stability, self-reliance and security, and examining how investment reaches rural, peri-urban and urban communities. This would help explain where funding meets immediate needs, where it creates greater stability, and where it supports pathways towards lasting opportunity.
A credible assessment would require programme-level cash expenditure, geographic information and a clear understanding of each intervention. Outcome evidence would then help establish what changed for the people supported. Our proposal is to work towards that assessment with Eskom, using the scorecard to identify strengths, reveal opportunities and strengthen an already encouraging contribution. For now, we celebrate the leadership. We celebrate the teams doing the work. And we celebrate a **57% increase in reported CSI committed spend. Bringing Eskom back into the light is an achievement worth recognising. Helping that light reach further into the lives and futures of South Africans is the next opportunity.
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