South Africa's Gas Cliff Looms as Mozambique Supplies Dwindle

South Africa is racing to secure its future gas supply as the country faces a looming 'gas cliff' that poses a significant risk to industrial production, investment, employment, and economic competitiveness. The crisis will be addressed at the Africa Gas Forum, taking place alongside the Africa Energy Indaba 2027 from March 2-4 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

The country has historically relied on natural gas supplied from Mozambique's Pande and Temane fields, but as those supplies decline, it faces the challenge of establishing alternative sources quickly enough to protect major industrial users. Sasol has announced plans to provide methane-rich gas from its Secunda operations as a temporary bridging solution from July 2028 to June 2030.

However, IGUA-SA warns that this bridge does not address the country's fundamental challenge and long-term security will require coordinated action across government and industry, together with investment in LNG import capacity, pipelines, storage, and associated gas infrastructure. The organisation's updated Gas Roadmap calls for gas supply, LNG terminals, pipelines, storage, and gas-to-power infrastructure to be treated as strategic national economic infrastructure.

The decisions being taken now will determine whether South Africa moves through the coming transition with secure gas supplies or simply postpones the cliff. The Africa Gas Forum discussion will move beyond identifying the problem to focus on the solutions required to establish a secure, competitive, and sustainable gas market.