By Sanjith Hannuman
At a recent JP Landman presentation, the renowned political analyst revealed something startling: very few attendees had heard of Project Vulindlela—South Africa’s most significant economic reform initiative since GEAR in 1996. This lack of awareness reflects a broader problem in how we consume news about our country. While scandal dominates headlines, a quiet transformation is taking place across multiple sectors of the South African economy.
Project Vulindlela, meaning “open the way” in isiZulu, began as a controversial Treasury document in 2019 that critics dismissed as “rogue.” Today, it drives South Africa’s economic reform strategy, targeting five critical bottlenecks: electricity, telecommunications, water, freight transport, and visas.
The results are remarkable. Eskom has returned to profitability for the first time in eight years, posting a profit before tax of R23.9 billion for the financial year ending March 2025. Load shedding declined dramatically to 175 hours in 2024, compared to 6,367 hours the previous year. According to the CSIR, this reduced economic losses from R2.8 trillion in 2023 to R481 billion in 2024—an 83% improvement.
Beyond Eskom, a decade-long spectrum deadlock has been broken, with the March 2022 auction earning R14.5 billion and enabling nationwide 5G rollout. Water use licensing approval times have been slashed from 300 to 90 days, while eleven major bulk-water projects worth over R156 billion are now underway. Private operators are bidding to run freight corridors and port terminals, ending Transnet’s stranglehold on logistics.
The Bureau for Economic Research at Stellenbosch University estimates that when fully implemented, Vulindlela reforms could lift South Africa’s long-term growth rate from 1% to 3% or even 3.5%—finally pushing economic growth above population growth and reversing unemployment trends.
Economic Confidence Surges
Investor sentiment is shifting decisively. South Africa’s business confidence improved in September 2025, with the SACCI Business Confidence Index rising to 121.1, driven by robust tourism, higher precious metal prices, and increased exports. Foreign investors are responding: South Africa’s government bonds drew net inflows of R139 billion in the 18 months through June 2025—more than the previous four years combined. In the first eight months of 2025 alone, foreign investors bought R58.8 billion worth of bonds, significantly more than the R23.6 billion in the same period of 2024.
The European Union reinforced this optimism with an €11.5 billion (R230 billion) investment package supporting green hydrogen, renewable energy, critical minerals, electric battery manufacturing, vaccine production, and infrastructure development across rail, roads, ports, and digital connectivity—precisely the areas Project Vulindlela identified as critical.
Sector Success Stories
South Africa’s citrus industry is on track to pack a record 202.2 million cartons for export in 2025, marking an 18% increase and 23% more than the 163.9 million packed in 2024. As the world’s second-largest citrus exporter after Spain, this achievement creates jobs, earns hard currency, and demonstrates what’s possible when competitive advantage meets professional execution.
The Eastern Cape Department of Agriculture achieved a clean audit for 2024/25, and according to Statistics South Africa, the province recorded 89,000 new jobs in Q2 2025, with agriculture contributing 21,000 of these positions. Good governance and strategic investment are yielding tangible results for rural communities.
Perhaps no news better captured South Africa’s capacity for achievement than Bafana Bafana’s World Cup qualification. After a 3-0 victory over Rwanda, South Africa qualified for the 2026 World Cup—the first time on merit since 2002, ending a 16-year wait. This demonstrated that with the right leadership and strategy, South African teams can compete at the highest levels.
The Mindset Shift We Need
These stories share a common thread: they represent real progress in areas that matter to ordinary South Africans. Yet they rarely receive the sustained attention given to scandal and dysfunction. This imbalance shapes public perception and national confidence.
What’s emerging is what JP Landman describes as a shift “from a developmental state to a partnership state.” Across electricity, telecommunications, water, transport, and ports, South Africa is transitioning from closed, underperforming state monopolies to open, competitive systems that attract private capital and expertise. This isn’t about abandoning public ownership—it’s recognising that government cannot do everything alone.
As South Africans, we face a choice about how we engage with our country’s narrative. We can continue focusing primarily on what’s wrong, feeding a cycle of negativity that discourages investment and drives talent away. Or we can adopt a balanced perspective that acknowledges challenges while celebrating progress.
This isn’t naive optimism—it’s recognising that belief shapes reality. When foreign investors see R139 billion flowing into South African bonds, they see trajectory. When the EU commits €11.5 billion to our clean energy transition, they’re betting on potential. When Bafana Bafana qualify for the World Cup, they prove South African excellence is possible.
A Nation at a Turning Point
Project Vulindlela and the reforms it represents offer more than economic benefits. They provide evidence that South Africa can identify problems, design solutions, and implement them effectively. From Eskom’s turnaround to record citrus exports, from clean audits to World Cup qualification, these achievements share a common theme: strategic leadership, professional execution, and persistence.
The machine that is South Africa indeed turns at its own pace—sometimes frustratingly slowly. But it is turning. The reforms are working. The investments are flowing. The results are emerging.
What’s needed now is for more South Africans to become aware of these positive developments, to share them as widely as we share stories of failure, and to support the institutions making progress. When we change the national conversation from despair to possibility, we create the confidence necessary for investment, innovation, and growth.
South Africa’s future isn’t just being imagined—it’s already being built. It’s time we started paying attention.
South Africa belongs to us—not only to those we put in power to help us run this country. The responsibility for our nation’s trajectory rests with every citizen. Change and believing starts with us! When we choose to see the progress alongside the problems, when we share good news as readily as we share scandal, when we support the institutions and individuals doing the hard work of reform—that’s when transformation becomes unstoppable. The power to shape our national narrative, and ultimately our national destiny, lies in our collective hands.
Sanjith Hannuman is Managing Director of AVIB and a seasoned retirement funds consultant. He holds an MBA from UKZN, is an Associate of the Financial Planning Institute of South Africa, a Human Values Practitioner, and a Behavioural Life Coach.
