The move to a Level 1 Covid-19 lockdown, including the opening up of borders, will help the South African economy to begin its painful recovery from the pandemic. The ongoing threat of load-shedding will make it difficult, however, for the country to make a clean break from the low-growth, job-destroying trajectory it has been on for about a decade. Government needs to move at greater speed not only in accelerating the introduction of large-scale independent power producers, but in unlocking the ability of businesses and households to invest in self-generation.