South African tycoons Mark and Brett Levy to build $21.8 million solar plant

Blu Label Unlimited Group, the company controlled and run by South African brothers Mark and Brett Levy, has started building a R360 million ($21.8 million) solar power plant that will sell electricity to the City of Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg, under a 20-year contract.

BluEnergy, Blu Label's energy unit, and its development partner IBS Crafts broke ground this week on the 25.6-megawatt project at the Springs Fresh Produce Market. The panels will cover the market's roof and nearby unused land, and the plant will feed power into the Springs bulk substation.

The plant is expected to produce about 40 gigawatt-hours of electricity a year, roughly what 6,000 typical households use, and cut carbon dioxide emissions by about 36,000 tons a year. The city will buy the power under a power purchase agreement. BluEnergy, as the independent power producer, pays for the plant, so the municipality puts up no capital.

Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, South Africa's minister of electricity and energy, and Ekurhuleni Executive Mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza turned the first sod at the site. The project falls under the Ekurhuleni Independent Power Producer Programme, the city's plan to buy more electricity from private generators. Construction is expected to create more than 100 jobs, with permanent operations and maintenance work to follow.

"This is a flagship project for BluEnergy and a blueprint for municipal energy partnerships in South Africa," said Aaron Suckerman, BluEnergy's chief executive. "Municipalities need additional electricity supply and investable delivery models."

From selling tokens to selling power

The Levys, who run Blu Label as joint chief executives, have built it into one of South Africa's biggest sellers of prepaid airtime and electricity. Its Cigicell unit runs prepaid electricity vending and revenue collection systems for more than 95 municipalities, and has sold prepaid electricity tokens for municipalities and Eskom, the state power utility, since 2004.

The Springs plant takes the brothers' group into generating electricity as well as selling it. Mark Levy said the business already knows how municipalities collect money, and that collection and supply depend on each other.

"Reliable revenue collection helps support investment in new supply, while that supply improves the municipality's ability to serve its customers," he said. "Springs puts this Group strategy into practice. It deepens our municipal partnerships, creates opportunities for sustainable growth and shows how our businesses can work together to deliver lasting value for communities and shareholders."

BluEnergy received a multi-year electricity trading licence from the National Energy Regulator of South Africa in February, allowing it to buy power from generators and sell it to customers. He said at the time that the aim was to do more than sell electricity tokens, a low-margin business.

Life after Cell C

The solar push comes as the Levys move Blu Label past years spent rescuing Cell C, South Africa's fourth-largest mobile operator. Blu Label took majority control of Cell C in September 2025 and listed it on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange that November. It still owns 49.53% of the carrier, which it now accounts for as an associate.

The restructuring left Blu Label with a net loss of R4.88 billion ($296 million) for the year to May 31, 2026. Excluding Cell C and related items, the group made a net profit of R677 million ($41 million) on revenue of R9.44 billion ($572 million). The brothers called the year "transformational" and said their priorities now were to "generate cash, allocate capital with discipline and execute against the opportunities already in front of us."

Mark and Brett Levy founded Blu Label in 2001. Earlier thi