Legal Structure of South Africa’s Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET-IP)

South Africa’s Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET-IP) is a policy and investment framework designed to guide the country’s transition from a coal-intensive energy system toward a low-carbon, climate-resilient and more inclusive economy. The original JET-IP covers the 2023–2027 period, while the subsequent JET Implementation Plan (JET-IP) translates the investment framework into programmes, institutions and implementation mechanisms. The government describes the framework as being based on procedural, distributive and restorative justice. (State of the Nation)

Importantly, the JET-IP is not itself a single Act of Parliament. Its legal structure comes from the interaction of the South African Constitution, environmental legislation, electricity legislation, climate-change legislation, public-finance and procurement rules, energy-sector institutions, and South Africa's international climate commitments.

1. Constitutional foundation

The starting point is the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996.

Section 24 provides the constitutional environmental foundation. It protects the right to an environment that is not harmful to health or well-being and requires reasonable legislative and other measures to protect the environment for present and future generations. It also requires ecologically sustainable development while permitting justifiable economic and social development.

This is highly relevant to JET-IP because the plan attempts to combine:

decarbonisation;

energy security;

employment;

economic development;

environmental protection;

community participation; and

protection of workers and vulnerable communities.

The Constitutional Court's decision in Fuel Retailers Association of Southern Africa v Director-General: Environmental Management (2007) is particularly important. The Court held that environmental protection and socio-economic development cannot simply be treated as separate considerations. Sustainable development requires their integration. (SAFLII)

Therefore, the constitutional structure of JET-IP can be understood as an attempt to integrate environmental sustainability with socio-economic justice, rather than pursuing decarbonisation as an exclusively environmental objective.

2. National Environmental Management Act (NEMA)

The National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998 (NEMA) provides another major legal foundation.

NEMA establishes principles requiring environmental decision-making to consider social, economic and environmental factors. It also promotes participation by interested and affected persons and requires environmentally significant activities to undergo appropriate assessment.

This matters for JET-IP projects such as:

renewable-energy facilities;

transmission infrastructure;

battery-storage facilities;

green-hydrogen projects;

electric-vehicle infrastructure;

coal-power-station decommissioning; and

mine rehabilitation.

JET-IP funding or policy support does not automatically exempt individual projects from ordinary environmental authorisation requirements.

3. Earthlife Africa and climate-impact assessment

A particularly important precedent is Earthlife Africa Johannesburg v Minister of Environmental Affairs and Others (2017).

The case concerned the proposed Thabametsi coal-fired power station. The High Court held that climate-change impacts were relevant considerations in environmental decision-making and that the failure to properly consider them rendered the decision unlawful. The matter was remitted for reconsideration. (SAFLII)

The case is significant for JET-IP because it establishes a judicial principle that energy infrastructure decisions must account for climate consequences where those consequences are legally relevant.

Thus, when JET-IP promotes renewable energy, transmission infrastructure or the managed retirement of coal assets, the relevant authorities remain subject to environmental-law requirements.

4. Electricity Regulation Act

The Electricity Regulation Act 4 of 2006 provides the principal statutory framework for electricity generation, transmission, distribution and regulation.

Section 34 is especially relevant because it enables the Minister, following the statutory process, to determine:

the need for additional electricity-generation capacity;

the energy sources from which electricity should be generated;

the amount or percentage of generation from particular sources;

procurement arrangements; and

private-sector participation.

The legislation therefore provides an important legal bridge between government energy policy and actual electricity procurement.

JET-IP's renewable-energy and grid-investment objectives must consequently operate through the electricity regulatory system rather than existing independently from it.

5. NERSA and regulatory governance

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) is central to the legal architecture.

NERSA regulates important aspects of electricity, gas and petroleum sectors and performs functions concerning licences, tariffs and regulatory oversight.

JET-IP therefore operates through a network of institutions rather than through one central JET-IP authority.

The legal structure can broadly be represented as:

Constitution → national legislation → energy/environmental regulators → government departments and state-owned entities → investment programmes → individual projects.

This institutional structure is important because the JET-IP itself cannot simply override statutory regulatory powers.

6. Climate Change Act 22 of 2024

The legal environment has become stronger following the enactment of the Climate Change Act 22 of 2024.

The Act is specifically intended to facilitate an effective climate response and a long-term just transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy and society. It commenced on 17 March 2025, subject to specified provisions. (Government of South Africa)

This legislation is highly significant for the legal evolution of JET-IP because it moves South Africa beyond relying primarily on policy documents and international commitments.

The Act creates a broader statutory architecture for:

climate-change response;

mitigation;

adaptation;

coordination between spheres of government;

climate-related planning;

emissions management; and

the long-term just transition.

Consequently, JET-IP can increasingly be understood within a statutory climate-governance framework rather than solely as an investment strategy.

7. Just Transition Framework

The JET-IP is also based on the Just Transition Framework, which provides the conceptual foundation for determining what makes an energy transition "just."

Its central concern is that decarbonisation should not impose disproportionate costs on:

coal workers;

mining communities;

vulnerable households;

affected municipalities;

businesses dependent on carbon-intensive industries; and

future generations.

The South African government expressly identifies procedural, distributive and restorative justice as principles underlying the transition. (State of the Nation)

Procedural justice requires meaningful participation in decision-making.

Distributive justice concerns how the costs and benefits of the transition are distributed.

Restorative justice concerns measures addressing historical and continuing harms affecting communities and workers.

These principles give the JET-IP a wider legal and policy character than a conventional renewable-energy investment programme.

8. Institutional structure of the JET-IP

The JET Implementation Plan identifies six portfolios and assigns leading institutions to particular areas of implementation. Government is described as acting as regulator, enabler and facilitator, while institutions are expected to develop programmes, mobilise finance, monitor performance and work with stakeholders. (State of the Nation)

The principal areas include:

Electricity-sector transformation

New Energy Vehicles

Green hydrogen

Mpumalanga just transition

Municipal electricity distribution

Skills and related transition measures

The plan therefore combines infrastructure investment with social and economic restructuring.

9. Financing structure

The JET-IP is fundamentally an investment mobilisation framework.

Government announced that approximately R1.5 trillion was expected to be invested through the transition over the five-year period, covering areas such as renewable energy, green hydrogen and electric vehicles. (Government of South Africa)

Financing can involve:

domestic public resources;

concessional international finance;

development-finance institutions;

private investment;

grants;

loans;

blended finance; and

international climate-finance arrangements.

However, JET-IP financing does not remove ordinary legal requirements relating to public expenditure, procurement, environmental approvals, corporate governance or financial accountability.

10. Eskom and electricity-sector transformation

Eskom occupies a particularly important position because South Africa's electricity system has historically been heavily dependent on Eskom's coal-fired generation fleet.

JET-IP therefore intersects with:

Eskom restructuring;

coal-power-station retirement;

renewable generation;

transmission expansion;

electricity-market reform;

private generation;

grid modernisation; and

energy-storage development.

Recent litigation demonstrates that electricity reliability has constitutional dimensions. In United Democratic Movement v Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd (2023), the High Court addressed the electricity crisis and found breaches of constitutional rights associated with the failure to provide reliable electricity, while ordering remedial measures concerning essential public institutions. (SAFLII)

Similarly, Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd v Sonae Arauco (2024) dealt with the statutory framework governing load-shedding and confirmed Eskom's regulatory responsibilities concerning reliable operation of the national electricity system. (SAFLII)

These cases demonstrate that JET-IP must pursue decarbonisation while operating within the legal requirement to maintain an electricity system capable of serving public needs.

11. Public participation and affected communities

Public participation is a central component of the legal structure.

JET-IP-related decisions may affect:

workers;

municipalities;

mining communities;

landowners;

electricity consumers;

indigenous and local communities;

environmental organisations; and

private investors.

The principle of participation is reinforced by NEMA and the Constitution.

Fuel Retailers Association is again relevant because the Constitutional Court emphasised the integration of environmental, economic and social interests and the importance of considering affected interests in sustainable-development decision-making. (SAFLII)

Therefore, JET-IP implementation should not be viewed simply as a top-down government investment exercise.

12. International-law dimension

JET-IP is also connected with South Africa's international climate commitments, particularly the Paris Agreement and its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

The South African government expressly states that JET-IP is intended to support its NDC commitments and the country's movement toward a low-carbon economy. (State of the Nation)

International commitments consequently provide an important policy and interpretive context, while domestic legislation determines how particular projects and government decisions acquire legal effect.

13. Important case-law principles

Conclusion

The legal structure of South Africa's JET-IP is multi-layered rather than contained in a single statute. Its foundation consists of the Constitution, NEMA, Electricity Regulation Act, climate legislation, energy-policy instruments, the Just Transition Framework, public-finance and procurement rules, regulatory institutions, and international climate commitments.

The most important legal characteristic is its attempt to reconcile three objectives simultaneously: decarbonisation, energy security and socio-economic justice. The jurisprudence in Fuel Retailers establishes the importance of integrating environmental and developmental considerations, while Earthlife Africa demonstrates that climate impacts can be legally decisive in energy-infrastructure decisions. More recent Eskom litigation highlights the equally important requirement of maintaining reliable electricity services.

The Climate Change Act 22 of 2024, which commenced in March 2025, further strengthens the statutory basis for South Africa's long-term just transition. (Government of South Africa)

Thus, JET-IP should legally be understood not as a stand-alone funding programme, but as a coordinated governance framework through which existing constitutional, environmental, electricity, climate, financial and administrative laws are applied to South Africa's transition from a coal-intensive energy economy toward a low-carbon and more socially inclusive energy system.