According to Reuters, South Africa is determined to cut dependence on fossil-fuel based energy sources ever since the country received an 8.5 billion USD funding for the energy transition from the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany and the European Union back in November, last year.

This comes as South Africa is the 12th country in the world with regards to the greenhouse gas emissions, and the first one on the continent.

The reason for this is that the country relies heavily on its outdated and inefficient coal-based power plants in order to provide most of the required electricity.

The nearly 64 billion USD funding would imply investments in transition fuels, such as natural gas and nuclear, and also upskilling people who could otherwise lose their jobs, said Crispian Olver, executive director of the Presidential Climate Commission.

The Commission came up in February this year with a draft report that showed plans for the transition in four major sectors of the economy, those being coal, automotive, agriculture and tourism.

Crispian Olver said that "we are working on the numbers, and different models project different numbers and there is also a big debate about energy mix... We think around a trillion rand by 2030, and three to four trillion rand by 2050 will be needed."

The Presidential Climate Commission was created in 2020 by president Cyril Ramaphosa in order to create a plan for South Africa's energy transition to a net zero economy by 2050.