THE BROKEN PROMISE OF AFFORDABLE ENERGY FOR ALL

The document argues that the goal of affordable energy in South Africa has not been met, leaving poor households to spend up to 17% of their income on energy and forcing many to use dangerous sources like paraffin and coal. It identifies two primary causes: the lack of a formal government standard defining 'affordable energy' and the systemic failure of the Free Basic Electricity (FBE) policy. Specifically, the briefing highlights a significant gap in FBE implementation, noting that in 2019, while the national budget funded free basic services for 9.8 million households, only 2 million actually received free electricity from their municipalities. This resulted in 5.4 million eligible households missing out on benefits valued at R6 billion.

• The South African government has failed to fulfill the primary objective of the 1998 White Paper on Energy, which was to promote access to affordable energy services for disadvantaged households, small businesses, small farms, and community services.
• Poor households in South Africa face a disproportionate financial burden for energy, spending up to 17 per cent of their income on it, which reduces their ability to afford other necessities such as food.
• A critical policy failure is the absence of a clear, standardized definition of 'affordable energy' by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, meaning there are no limits on electricity price increases to ensure affordability.
• The Free Basic Electricity (FBE) policy, which provides 50 kWh of free electricity per month (valued at just under R100), is severely under-implemented due to municipal registration barriers and lack of oversight.
• In 2019, a massive discrepancy existed between national funding and actual delivery: the national budget funded free basic services for 9.8 million households, but only 2 million received free electricity. Excluding the 2.5 million households not connected to the grid, 5.4 million poor households missed out on benefits worth R6 billion.

APA

LEDGER, T. (2021). THE BROKEN PROMISE OF AFFORDABLE ENERGY FOR ALL. Public Affairs Research Institute. https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/CBEnglish13.pdf

Chicago

LEDGER, TRACY. THE BROKEN PROMISE OF AFFORDABLE ENERGY FOR ALL. Public Affairs Research Institute, 2021. https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/CBEnglish13.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=LEDGER |first1=TRACY |title=THE BROKEN PROMISE OF AFFORDABLE ENERGY FOR ALL |publisher=Public Affairs Research Institute |date=April 2021 |url=https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/CBEnglish13.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ledger2021broken, author = {LEDGER, TRACY}, title = {{THE BROKEN PROMISE OF AFFORDABLE ENERGY FOR ALL}}, institution = {Public Affairs Research Institute}, year = {2021}, month = apr, url = {https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/CBEnglish13.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }