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BACKGROUND

Electrify the country, in particular low cost residential housing

In 1994 Parliament approved a plan to ensure equal access to basic services for all South Africans and the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) strategy was born. Eskom and the municipalities electrified approximately 2, 5 million households during 1994 to 1998. The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) was tasked to develop and oversee the implementation of the Integrated National Electrification Programme (INEP) from 1999 to 2001. Eskom was tasked by the NERSA to undertake the implementation through use of contractors and service providers.

In the year 2001 the Government decided to transfer the responsibility and implementation oversight of the electrification programme to the DoE by then it was Department of Mineral and Energy. Over 7,4 million households has been connected to grid and over 160 307 connected by non-grid technology between 1994 and 31 March 2018.

Municipalities and Eskom are responsible for reticulation and distribution of electricity to households, in their licensed supply area and they are both funded by the DoE through the INEP programme. The DoE has a number of policies emanating from the White Paper of 1998. These policies are the ones that enable electrification to be focused and also to maximize on the expected outcomes of electrification. Currently at least over 200 000 households are electrified, 20 000 to non-grid, medium voltage lines and new bulk substations per annum are constructed to extend the services to deep rural areas including the 27 Priority Districts.

The main funding of the national electrification programme is a conditional grant allocation through the National Budget (Fiscus). The DoE occasionally provides capacity building support to municipalities struggling to implement the electrification programme. However, the electrification programme experiences a number of challenges which include:

  • Implementation of grid connections in some municipalities starting late due to municipal financial year being July – June, whereas the department’s (National) financial year runs from April – March.
  • The lack of holistic infrastructure to ensure that the networks are extended in the most effective manner.
  • More households have to be electrified in deep rural areas where installation cost in much higher.
  • Lack of skills and resources in municipalities ‘technical departments to plan and manage these large electrification projects. Long procurement processes in both Eskom and municipalities delaying the start and completion of projects and the escalation of costs.

In addressing the above, the Department intends to review and monitor the Strategic Electrification Plan, ensure capacity building within the Department and in Municipalities looking at whether the current skills, knowledge, structure and personnel development are aligned to the needs of the department.

Electrification Statistics for March 2018 (DoE, 2018)

Province Projected Households (April to March 2018) Total Households Connected (April to March 2018) Houses Without Electricity Houses Electrified Access Per Province
Eastern Cape 1 863 009 66 243 323 411 1 539 598 82.64%
Free State 909 007 4 586 123 589 785 418 86.40%
Gauteng 4 315 876 11 876 776 997 3 538 879 82.00%
Kwazulu Natal 2 803 735 70 765

485 472

 2 318 263 82.68%
Mpumalanga 1 187 426 33 496 88 320 1 099 106 92.56%
Northern Cape 332 775 3 400 44 196 288 579 86.72%
Limpopo 1 565 699 58 666 22 723 1 542 976 98.55%
North West 1 172 550 16 271 158 795 1 013 755 86.46%
Western Cape 1 804 068 10 527 185 394 1 618 674 89.72%
Total 15 954 146 275 830 2 208 898 13 745 248 86.15%

Electricity access to date is at 86.15 % with growth. The province with the highest access to electricity is Limpopo with 98.55 % and lowest is Eastern Cape with 82.00%. Although electrification programme is successful in the country, funding and capacity to implement are to be priorities. 

2018/19 INEP MTEF Allocations
Programme 2017/18   (R‘000’) 2018/19   (R‘000’) 2019/20   (R‘000’)
MUNIC Prog 1, 904, 477 2, 127, 928 2, 244, 964
ESKOM Prog 3, 262, 031 3, 432, 453 3, 621, 488
Non-Grid 201, 649 212, 941 224, 653
Baseline Allocation 5, 368, 157 5, 773, 322 6, 091, 105

2018/19 Allocations Per Province

Province Municipality Programme Allocations   (R’000) Eskom Programme Allocations   (R’0000) Total
(R'000)
Eastern Cape 395 302  804 652 1 199 924
Free State 89 682 84 473 174 155
Gauteng 166 732 190 352 357 084
Kwazulu Natal 488 500 885 288 1 373 788
Limpopo 268 247 457 829 726 076
Mpumalanga 169 258 272 777 442 035
Northern Cape 121 707 162 502 284 209
North West 86 049 281 625 367 674
Western Cape 119 000 122 533 241 533
Total 1 904 477 3, 262, 031 5 166 508

National Development Plan (NDP)

According to the NDP Chapter 4 the Department of Energy says that between a fifth and a quarter of South Africans still have no access to the grid. The following interventions are proposed:

  • A thorough review of targets, planning, technology choices, funding and implementation.
  • Subject to costs, South Africa could for at least 90% grid connections by 2030, with alternative off-grid options offered to the remaining households for whom a connection is impracticable.

New Household Electrification Strategy

The Cabinet approved (26 June 2013) the implementing of the new Household Electrification Strategy based on the following focus areas:

  • The defining of universal access as 97% of households, as full electrification is unlikely to be possible due to growth and delays in the process of formalising informal settlements;
  • The electrification of about 90% of households through grid connection and the rest with high-quality non-grid solar home systems or other possible technologies based on cost effective options in order to address current and future backlogs;
  • The development of a master plan to increase efficiency in planning and the delivery process to ensure more connections.

Medium Term Strategic Framework

MTSF Targets 2014-2019 and Progress as at March 2018

Programme Targets Progress Percentage Difference
Grid 1 250 000 1 045 256 83.84% 204 744
Non-Grid 105 000 69 653 66.34% 35 347
Total 1 355 000 1 114 909 82.28% 240 091