South Africa’s electric vehicle (EV) charging network is expanding without a coordinated national rollout model, leaving provinces and municipalities to develop infrastructure independently and resulting in an uneven national footprint.
Speaking at a panel discussion during Solar & Storage Live Africa on March 26, Greg Cress, Principal Director: Automotive and eMobility at Accenture, said charging deployment across the country remains unsynchronised, particularly along national transport corridors.
Charging infrastructure remains concentrated in Gauteng and the Western Cape with limited deployment across other provinces despite recent progress in regions such as the Eastern Cape. This has resulted in an emerging network that is not yet structured to support consistent long-distance travel.
Panellists noted that, while South Africa has broad electricity access, the grid was not originally designed to accommodate high-density, high-power EV charging, particularly at distribution level where most infrastructure will connect.
Lack of alignment is further compounded by differing municipal permitting processes and regulatory requirements, which are slowing deployment and complicating efforts to establish a cohesive national network, panellists said.
Kabayo Muhau, Co-Founder and President of the Zambian Electric Mobility Innovation Alliance, said fragmentation across jurisdictions remains a key constraint with local authorities operating under varying frameworks and levels of readiness.
Without a central rollout framework, infrastructure is being deployed on a provincial basis, limiting the development of continuous charging corridors required for logistics and commercial fleet operations.
Jonathan Mphake, National Fleet Manager at SBV Services, said infrastructure rollout must align with operational realities, particularly for fleet operators.
“I think it’s imperative that government is involved but also allowing the private sector to get involved,” he said, noting that charging availability directly affects service delivery, routing and risk management.
Infrastructure deployment must be informed by real-world usage data to avoid stranded assets and ensure that charging sites support actual transport demand, he added.
Hiten Parmar, Director and Co-Founder of Electric Mission, said clearer national guidance could help structure rollout, pointing to international models where minimum infrastructure requirements are set along key transport routes.
