By: Manie de Waal - CEO of Energy Partners

South African organisations have recovered more than R600 million in unverified and over-billed energy charges and closed out over 350 disputed billing positions using Syntiro™, a financial control system for energy.

The figures point to a growing financial control challenge for businesses operating in an energy environment where procurement, tariffs, PPAs, wheeling contracts and carbon exposure are becoming harder to optimise, verify, reconcile and defend.

“R600 million in basic tariff-overbilling claims is only the tip of the iceberg,” says Manie de Waal, CEO of Energy Partners, which developed Syntiro. “But it tells us something important: energy complexity is already carrying a measurable financial cost for South African business. This is no longer just an operational issue, or a single line item on the income statement. CFOs need forecasted visibility into what’s driving the costs of multiple electricity and utility providers, and numbers they can sign off and defend. Syntiro gives them that. It's proven at scale, by a team that understands the terrain."

The complexity behind the number

Mila Vicquery, Syntiro’s General Manager, says the challenge is that many organisations are still trying to manage an increasingly complex energy environment with systems that were not designed for it.

"Organisations are using Excel to try and manage multi-billion-rand energy costs across Eskom, municipal suppliers, embedded PPAs and wheeling agreements. Each has its own tariff structure, billing cycle and contractual terms. That exposure is difficult to see, let alone quantify, and managing it on Excel is no longer viable."

Syntiro closes that gap, consolidating multi-source energy data, regardless of format or source, into a single, audit-ready view of consumption, cost, performance and forecasts. It’s already deployed across sectors including healthcare, logistics, retail and manufacturing, with clients including Aspen Pharmacare, Clover SA, Sovereign, Netcare, Shoprite, AECI and Commercial Cold Holdings.

What happens when SAWEM opens

When the South African Wholesale Electricity Market (SAWEM) opens in 2028, energy procurement will shift to a more dynamic, multi-source market.

Confirms Vicquery, "When SAWEM opens, the organisations that are able to consolidate and verify their position in real time will have a structural advantage over those still reconciling invoices by hand.”

The timing gives added weight to Syntiro's latest recognition: it has been named Innovative Energy Project of the Year at the 2026 Sub-Saharan Africa Region Association of Energy Engineers® (AEE) Energy Awards, a first for Southern Africa, and Syntiro's second honour in two years, following its 2025 win at the South African Energy Efficiency Confederation (SAEEC) Energy Awards.

For de Waal, the award confirms a broader shift already underway in the market.

“SAWEM will not create energy complexity. It will rapidly expose it,” he says. “The companies that can consolidate and verify their energy position will be better placed to forecast and optimise cost, manage risk and reduce carbon in a more open market. That’s the problem Syntiro solves.”