According to the study on coal transition in SA, the difficulty of the transition was exacerbated by the very high dependence on coal for energy and coal’s role in the economy in general and Mpumalanga in particular.

Source: https://www.citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/sas-power-grid-coal-for-200-years/

As seen on the chart below, when natural gas prices are high relative to coal, coal’s share of generation increases, and vice versa.

Source: https://energycentral.com/c/gn/coal%E2%80%99s-future-us-increasingly-dim