This paper reviews how South Africa’s Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) are presented in international literature and how this compares to mitigation actions and national policy development and implementation. It argues that there is disjuncture between what is reflected in the literature and what is observable in South Africa. The authors argue that mitigation activities are happening and that in the areas of energy efficiency and renewable energy significant progress has been made. However, the paper argues that these cannot be attributed to the NAMA concept per se. Rather, the drivers relate to energy policy and – very broadly speaking – national climate change objectives as outlined in the current National Climate Change Response Strategy.