DIE GEBROKE BELOFTE VAN BEKOSTIGBARE ENERGIE VIR ALMAL

The document examines the failure of South Africa's energy policies to ensure affordable electricity for the poor. It highlights that poor households spend up to 17% of their income on energy and identifies two main causes: the absence of a formal definition of 'affordable energy' and the systemic failure of municipalities to distribute Free Basic Electricity (FBE) grants. Specifically, in 2019, while the national budget funded basic services for 9.8 million households, only 2 million actually received free electricity, leaving 5.4 million eligible households without the benefit and resulting in a loss of R6 billion in value.

• The South African government has not established a formal standard or definition for 'affordable energy,' which has led to the neglect of the primary goal set out in the 1998 energy white paper and a lack of policies to limit electricity price increases.
• Low-income households in South Africa face a disproportionate financial burden for energy, spending up to 17% of their income on it, which reduces their ability to afford other essentials like food.
• The Free Basic Electricity (FBE) policy, introduced in 2003 to provide 50 kWh of free electricity per month (valued at just under R100), is severely under-implemented.
• There is a massive gap between the funding provided by the national budget and the actual delivery of free electricity by municipalities; in 2019, funding was provided for 9.8 million households, but only 2 million received the benefit.
• Approximately 5.4 million poor households in South Africa were eligible for but did not receive free electricity in 2019, representing a total value of R6 billion that these households had to pay out of pocket.
• Barriers to accessing FBE include difficult registration processes for 'indigent' status at municipalities and the fact that approximately 2.5 million households are not connected to the electricity grid.

APA

Ledger, T. (2021). DIE GEBROKE BELOFTE VAN BEKOSTIGBARE ENERGIE VIR ALMAL. Public Affairs Research Institute. https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/CBAfrikaansNew.pdf

Chicago

Ledger, Tracy. DIE GEBROKE BELOFTE VAN BEKOSTIGBARE ENERGIE VIR ALMAL. Public Affairs Research Institute, 2021. https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/CBAfrikaansNew.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ledger |first1=Tracy |title=DIE GEBROKE BELOFTE VAN BEKOSTIGBARE ENERGIE VIR ALMAL |publisher=Public Affairs Research Institute |date=April 2021 |url=https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/CBAfrikaansNew.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ledger2021die, author = {Ledger, Tracy}, title = {{DIE GEBROKE BELOFTE VAN BEKOSTIGBARE ENERGIE VIR ALMAL}}, institution = {Public Affairs Research Institute}, year = {2021}, month = apr, url = {https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/CBAfrikaansNew.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }