The political economy of energy provisioning and profiteering in South Africa: the case of Somkhele and Emalahleni local municipality, an energy hub of South Africa
南アフリカにおけるエネルギー供給と利益獲得の政治経済学：ソムケレとエマラレニ地方自治体の事例、南アフリカのエネルギーハブ (AI 翻訳)
Human Sciences Research Council
🤖 gxceed AI 要約
日本語
南アフリカの国営電力会社Eskomへの石炭供給における品質低下の実態を、政治経済学の視点から批判的に分析。蓄積による収奪やシステム的暴力の概念を用い、貧困地域への社会生態学的コストを説明。2つの事例から、エネルギーガバナンスの失敗とエリート捕獲を示す。
English
This chapter critically analyzes the political economy of coal quality degradation in South Africa's state-owned power utility Eskom supply chain. Using concepts of accumulation by dispossession and systemic infrastructure violence, it shows how low-grade coal substitution exacerbates inequality and imposes socio-ecological costs on impoverished mining communities. Two case studies reveal institutional weaknesses and rent-seeking that lock in detrimental energy pathways.
Unofficial AI-generated summary based on the public title and abstract. Not an official translation.
📝 gxceed 編集解説 — Why this matters
日本のGX文脈において
南アフリカの事例だが、日本のエネルギー政策（石炭火力のフェードアウトや公正な移行）にも示唆。地域コミュニティへの影響を考慮した移行戦略が必要となる。
In the global GX context
While focused on South Africa, this paper's critical political economy lens on coal lock-in and elite capture offers lessons for global energy transition discourse, particularly on just transition and governance failures. It highlights the risk of transition policies that ignore local socio-ecological costs.
👥 読者別の含意
🔬研究者:Critical political economy perspective on coal energy lock-in and inequality.
🏢実務担当者:Understanding supply chain integrity risks and community impacts in energy transitions.
🏛政策担当者:Insights on governance failures and the need for inclusive energy transition policies.
📄 Abstract（原文）
This chapter presents a critical political economy perspective and the analysis of South Africa’s coal-energy nexus that interrogate how the notion of the tragedy of the commons, accumulation by dispossession, and systemic infrastructure violence manifest within the illicit practice of substituting high-quality coal with low-grade alternatives supplied to Eskom (the state owned national electricity provider in South Africa). It posits that, far from generating sustainable wealth, this practice operates as a mechanism that exacerbates economic distortions, entrenches inequality, and imposes severe (and often irreversible), socio-ecological costs on impoverished communities proximate to mining operations. Two case studies were used: Emalahleni Local Municipality (ELM), which is South Africa’s primary energy production hub; and Somkhele in KwaZulu-Natal. A mixed-methods approach was employed, i.e. a comprehensive critical literature review and field observations, to dissect the multi-scalar ramifications of purposeful quality degradation within the Eskom supply chain. The investigation was motivated by the serious concern that South Africa is at a critical point in terms of energy governance, as entrenched rent-seeking behaviour and institutional weaknesses threaten to lock in detrimental pathways that favour elite capture of electricity generation through low quality coal to maximise profit, while externalising costs onto marginalised and impoverished populations.
🔗 Provenance — このレコードを発見したソース
- openalex https://doi.org/10.14749/32359281first seen 2026-06-11 04:59:07 · last seen 2026-06-16 04:40:42
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