A whooping R9 billion allocated to the poor for free basic electricity was used for other things, according to a detailed report by the Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI). Senior Researcher at the PARI, Dr. Tracy Ledger, confirmed this has been going on since 2014 in a detailed report released back in 2020, titled: “Broken promises: Electricity access for low- income households – good policy intentions, bad trade-offs and unintended consequences.”
Free basic electricity (FBE) is electricity allocated to support low-income households. FBE is not to be confused with free electricity. It is 50KW/H – 60 KW/H per month per household. This is an equivalent of about 60 units per month.
Organisations such as the Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC) tried to understand reasons behind the failure of the introduction of free basic electricity in addressing energy poverty and suggest fruitful ways to address it. This is critical prior to providing a detailed response to the energy crisis.
According to a document by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA), the provision of free basic electricity (FBE) was raised by National Government in 2002, and was intended for indigent customers. The Department of Energy introduced the Electricity Basic Services Support Tariff (EBSST) policy in 2003 and it was first implemented in the 2003/04 financial year. This policy prescribes that an allocation of 50kWh per month be provided to all poor households connected to the national grid. The indigent customers would be identified by various municipalities.
The funding for this initiative is provided by the National Treasury to local authorities through equitable share allocation, as identified by the Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) Department.
We will bring you details of the progress regarding free basic electricity since 2020.