BROKEN PROMISES

The document argues that the South African government has failed to fulfill its 1998 commitment to provide affordable electricity to poor households, small businesses, and farmers. It identifies two primary causes: a lack of a clear definition for "affordable electricity" and the systemic failure of the Free Basic Electricity (FBE) policy. While the national budget allocated funds for 9.8 million households to receive 50kWh of free electricity in 2019, only 2 million households actually received it. The briefing highlights that municipalities are responsible for registering low-income households and distributing these funds, but a lack of oversight has led to an estimated R6 billion in missing funds and millions of eligible households paying for electricity out of pocket.

• Low-income households in South Africa spend a disproportionately higher percentage of their income on electricity compared to wealthy households, with some spending up to 17% of their income on power.
• The South African government has failed to define what constitutes "affordable electricity," resulting in a lack of policy to regulate electricity tariffs to ensure accessibility for all citizens.
• The Free Basic Electricity (FBE) policy, established in 2003 to provide 50kWh of free electricity per month (valued at under R100), has not been implemented as intended.
• There is a massive gap between the number of households funded for free electricity by the national budget and those actually receiving the benefit; in 2019, funding was provided for 9.8 million households, but only 2 million received the benefit.
• Accounting for the 2.5 million households without proper electricity connections, approximately 5.4 million eligible low-income households in South Africa did not receive the free electricity they were entitled to in 2019.
• The failure to distribute free electricity resulted in an estimated loss of R6 billion in 2019, representing funds that should have assisted poor households but were instead retained or mismanaged by municipalities.
• Municipalities act as the gatekeepers for FBE benefits, but they often make registration difficult for poor households and lack oversight regarding how remaining funds are spent when they provide benefits to fewer households than funded.

APA

Ledger, T. (2021). BROKEN PROMISES. Public Affairs Research Institute. https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/CBSetswanaNew.pdf

Chicago

Ledger, Tracy. BROKEN PROMISES. Public Affairs Research Institute, 2021. https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/CBSetswanaNew.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ledger |first1=Tracy |title=BROKEN PROMISES |publisher=Public Affairs Research Institute |date=2021 |url=https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/CBSetswanaNew.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ledger2021broken, author = {Ledger, Tracy}, title = {{BROKEN PROMISES}}, institution = {Public Affairs Research Institute}, year = {2021}, url = {https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/CBSetswanaNew.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }