<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!-- generator="FeedCreator 1.7.3" -->
<?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.w3.org/2000/08/w3c-synd/style.css" type="text/css"?>
<rss version="2.0" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd">
    <channel>
        <title>Polity.org.za | Real Economy</title>
        <description><![CDATA[Terence Creamer is the Editor of Engineering News and a Deputy Editor for Mining Weekly.]]></description>
        <link>https://www.polity.org.za/page/real-economy</link>
        <lastBuildDate>Tue, 15 Sep 2026 11:20:15 +0200</lastBuildDate>
        <generator>FeedCreator 1.7.3</generator>
        <item>
            <title>Hands on</title>
            <link>https://www.polity.org.za/article/hands-on-2026-09-11</link>
            <description><![CDATA[Admissions by Bill Gates about various personal indiscretions – notably his association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – have raised questions about his personal judgement and continue to weigh on his reputation. Even though he is not accused of any involvement in Epstein’s crimes. However, there is no denying how influential Gates has been personally, as well as through Microsoft, in driving the technological developments that now shape how we work, communicate, learn, and even play.]]></description>
            <author>Terence Creamer</author>
            <category>REAL ECONOMY: AI REGULATION</category>
            <pubDate>Fri, 11 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <a_id>729310</a_id>
        <updated>1789121184</updated>
        <published>1789077600</published>
        <expires>99999999999</expires>
        <editor>Terence Creamer</editor>
        <has_video>0</has_video>
        <has_audio>0</has_audio>
        <image_url>https://cisp.cachefly.net/assets/articles/images/resized/0001297640_resized_2026editorial1022.jpg</image_url>
        <image_title></image_title>
        <image_width>511</image_width>
        <image_height>287</image_height>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title>Beyond catch-up</title>
            <link>https://www.polity.org.za/article/beyond-catch-up-2026-09-04</link>
            <description><![CDATA[For most South Africans living in the country’s largest cities, the infrastructure backlogs are not only visible but painfully disruptive. Driving without hitting a pothole has become a perilous art, as has navigating piecemeal water or electricity repairs where the resultant holes are left gaping for months, if not years. The stench of sewer leaks pollutes the air in many neighbourhoods, where water supply is also erratic and power cuts continue despite the official demise of loadshedding.]]></description>
            <author>Terence Creamer</author>
            <category>REAL ECONOMY: CITY INFRASTRUCTURE</category>
            <pubDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <a_id>728837</a_id>
        <updated>1788247479</updated>
        <published>1788472800</published>
        <expires>99999999999</expires>
        <editor>Terence Creamer</editor>
        <has_video>0</has_video>
        <has_audio>0</has_audio>
        <image_url>https://cisp.cachefly.net/assets/articles/images/resized/0001296072_resized_2026editorial1022.jpg</image_url>
        <image_title></image_title>
        <image_width>511</image_width>
        <image_height>287</image_height>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title>Palliative relief</title>
            <link>https://www.polity.org.za/article/palliative-relief-2026-08-28</link>
            <description><![CDATA[There were relatively high expectations ahead of the publication of the revised electricity pricing policy. Partly because the Minister had flagged it as a key document, but mostly because tariff hikes of more than 900% since 2007 have created broad-based affordability pressures, in some cases existential ones. The policy is important for setting the framework for long-term sustainability, but on the affordability front many of its remedies are palliative; balms that come in the form of subsidies, with the policy defining who should be eligible and whether the consumer or the taxpayer pays.]]></description>
            <author>Terence Creamer</author>
            <category>REAL ECONOMY: ELECTRICITY</category>
            <pubDate>Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <a_id>728205</a_id>
        <updated>1787643730</updated>
        <published>1787868000</published>
        <expires>99999999999</expires>
        <editor>Terence Creamer</editor>
        <has_video>0</has_video>
        <has_audio>0</has_audio>
        <image_url>https://cisp.cachefly.net/assets/articles/images/resized/0001294693_resized_2026editorial1022.jpg</image_url>
        <image_title></image_title>
        <image_width>511</image_width>
        <image_height>287</image_height>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title>Optimism as a tactic</title>
            <link>https://www.polity.org.za/article/optimism-as-a-tactic-2026-08-21</link>
            <description><![CDATA[Few could dispute that Discovery CEO Adrian Gore has emerged as the most influential South African business leader of his generation. Even those, or perhaps especially those, who do everything from tying their smartwatch to their dog’s collar to get their 10 000 steps, or who make that special trip to the gym on a Friday simply to tag-in so as to earn those last 100 points needed to meet that week’s fitness goal. Gore and Discovery are so fully integrated into South Africa’s cultural imagination that dinner-table discussions regularly turn to whether they are dictating everything from how and when we sleep to where we buy our groceries. Pontifications veer wildly from whether Vitality is akin to an Orwellian ‘Big Brother’ to facetious questions about why Discovery has not created a rewards programme to incentivise municipal officials to fix chronically broken traffic lights.]]></description>
            <author>Terence Creamer</author>
            <category>REAL ECONOMY: BUSINESS LEADERSHIP</category>
            <pubDate>Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <a_id>727716</a_id>
        <updated>1787580379</updated>
        <published>1787263200</published>
        <expires>99999999999</expires>
        <editor>Terence Creamer</editor>
        <has_video>0</has_video>
        <has_audio>0</has_audio>
        <image_url>https://cisp.cachefly.net/assets/articles/images/resized/0001293202_resized_2026editorial1022.jpg</image_url>
        <image_title></image_title>
        <image_width>511</image_width>
        <image_height>287</image_height>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title>TSO close, but not yet</title>
            <link>https://www.polity.org.za/article/tso-close-but-not-yet-2026-08-14</link>
            <description><![CDATA[There is no question that President Ramaphosa’s endorsement of the Phase I report of the Eskom Restructuring Task Team (ERTT) is a key milestone in the ongoing reform of South Africa’s electricity sector. The report focused on developing a high-level proposal to establish an independent Transmission System Operator (TSO). It was guided by both the amended Electricity Regulation Act, which includes a five-year timeframe from 2025 for the creation of the TSO, and the ERTT’s terms of reference.]]></description>
            <author>Terence Creamer</author>
            <category>REAL ECONOMY: ELECTRICITY</category>
            <pubDate>Fri, 14 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <a_id>727080</a_id>
        <updated>1786096982</updated>
        <published>1786658400</published>
        <expires>99999999999</expires>
        <editor>Terence Creamer</editor>
        <has_video>0</has_video>
        <has_audio>0</has_audio>
        <image_url>https://cisp.cachefly.net/assets/articles/images/resized/0001291210_resized_2026editorial1022.jpg</image_url>
        <image_title></image_title>
        <image_width>511</image_width>
        <image_height>287</image_height>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title>Important signals</title>
            <link>https://www.polity.org.za/article/important-signals-2026-08-07</link>
            <description><![CDATA[Recent interventions by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana and the National Treasury have helped shed light on issues that had hitherto been allowed to fester in dark corners. The most high-profile intervention has undoubtedly been the one at the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), where recent governance shortcomings, investment failures and unauthorised restructuring were risking the stability of an institution responsible for managing public-sector pension and social funds. It is estimated that the PIC has assets under management of R3.6-trillion, making good governance beyond essential and public scrutiny inevitable.]]></description>
            <author>Terence Creamer</author>
            <category>REAL ECONOMY: PUBLIC FINANCE</category>
            <pubDate>Fri, 07 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <a_id>726719</a_id>
        <updated>1785827896</updated>
        <published>1786053600</published>
        <expires>99999999999</expires>
        <editor>Terence Creamer</editor>
        <has_video>0</has_video>
        <has_audio>0</has_audio>
        <image_url>https://cisp.cachefly.net/assets/articles/images/resized/0001289818_resized_2026editorial1022.jpg</image_url>
        <image_title></image_title>
        <image_width>511</image_width>
        <image_height>287</image_height>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title>Missed opportunity</title>
            <link>https://www.polity.org.za/article/missed-opportunity-2026-07-31</link>
            <description><![CDATA[The uptake of rooftop solar in South Africa has increased dramatically over the past five or so years, spurred initially by the extreme loadshedding from 2021 to 2024. Using satellite and other aerial photographic data, a new report by the Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI) estimates that about 5.98-billion kWh of electricity was generated from the total installed rooftop capacity of 3 495 MWp over a one-year period.]]></description>
            <author>Terence Creamer</author>
            <category>REAL ECONOMY: ROOFTOP SOLAR</category>
            <pubDate>Fri, 31 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <a_id>726240</a_id>
        <updated>1785222361</updated>
        <published>1785448800</published>
        <expires>99999999999</expires>
        <editor>Terence Creamer</editor>
        <has_video>0</has_video>
        <has_audio>0</has_audio>
        <image_url>https://cisp.cachefly.net/assets/articles/images/resized/0001288260_resized_2026editorial1022.jpg</image_url>
        <image_title></image_title>
        <image_width>511</image_width>
        <image_height>287</image_height>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title>Distorted lens</title>
            <link>https://www.polity.org.za/article/distorted-lens-2026-07-24</link>
            <description><![CDATA[Transitions are never easy. They are disruptive and are often fiercely resisted. South Africa navigated its own grand political transition in 1994, following a period of intense uncertainty and resistance, which at times turned deadly. Were it not for courageous leaders, ongoing mobilisation in support of change, and the favourable geopolitical tailwinds of the period, the outcome could have been quite different.]]></description>
            <author>Terence Creamer</author>
            <category>REAL ECONOMY: ELECTRICITY POLICY</category>
            <pubDate>Fri, 24 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <a_id>725709</a_id>
        <updated>1784619531</updated>
        <published>1784844000</published>
        <expires>99999999999</expires>
        <editor>Terence Creamer</editor>
        <has_video>0</has_video>
        <has_audio>0</has_audio>
        <image_url>https://cisp.cachefly.net/assets/articles/images/resized/0001286616_resized_2026editorial1022.jpg</image_url>
        <image_title></image_title>
        <image_width>511</image_width>
        <image_height>287</image_height>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title>Think electricity</title>
            <link>https://www.polity.org.za/article/think-electricity-2026-07-17</link>
            <description><![CDATA[Global statistics continue to reaffirm the role of electricity as the future dominant energy carrier. More and more energy services are being electrified, including through electric vehicles, while new sources of large-scale demand, such as data centres, are emerging at pace. The International Energy Agency has already proclaimed this the ‘Age of Electricity’, as electricity demand outpaces overall energy demand. It is forecasting that global electricity demand will increase at a yearly rate of 3.6% from 2026 to 2030; at least 2.5 times faster than overall energy demand.]]></description>
            <author>Terence Creamer</author>
            <category>REAL ECONOMY: ENERGY POLICY</category>
            <pubDate>Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <a_id>724750</a_id>
        <updated>1784013628</updated>
        <published>1784239200</published>
        <expires>99999999999</expires>
        <editor>Terence Creamer</editor>
        <has_video>0</has_video>
        <has_audio>0</has_audio>
        <image_url>https://cisp.cachefly.net/assets/articles/images/resized/0001285110_resized_2026editorial1022.jpg</image_url>
        <image_title></image_title>
        <image_width>511</image_width>
        <image_height>287</image_height>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title>Measured ambition</title>
            <link>https://www.polity.org.za/article/measured-ambition-2026-07-10</link>
            <description><![CDATA[South Africa’s planned R1-trillion infrastructure programme is undoubtedly a chance to revive the struggling construction sector and to stimulate industrialisation. After more than a decade of weak demand and ongoing deindustrialisation, however, realising this potential will require a combination of ambition and pragmatism, together with a relentless focus on execution.]]></description>
            <author>Terence Creamer</author>
            <category>REAL ECONOMY: INDUSTRIAL POLICY</category>
            <pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <a_id>724445</a_id>
        <updated>1783409188</updated>
        <published>1783634400</published>
        <expires>99999999999</expires>
        <editor>Terence Creamer</editor>
        <has_video>0</has_video>
        <has_audio>0</has_audio>
        <image_url>https://cisp.cachefly.net/assets/articles/images/resized/0001283619_resized_2026editorial1022.jpg</image_url>
        <image_title></image_title>
        <image_width>511</image_width>
        <image_height>287</image_height>
        </item>
    </channel>
</rss>
