It was a surprise to hear President Cyril Ramaphosa tell the world in his written remarks to the UN climate change conference that his government was finalising a transaction that would accelerate the decommissioning of coal power stations in return for concessional funding for Eskom from pro-green funders.

The “green fund” is one of the proposals of the expert task team Ramaphosa put together in December to advise him on how to proceed on the Eskom problem. The team, comprising among others University of Cape Town professor Anton Eberhard and economist Grove Steyn, made its first report to the president in February and its final report in May...