South Africa's rapid electrification programme: Policy, institutional, planning, financing and technical innovations

This paper documents South Africa's electrification programme from the late 1980s to the present. The primary aim of the paper is to present the reader with an overview of the policy, institutional, planning, financing and technological developments and innovations that resulted in more than 5 million households receiving access to electricity between 1990 and 2007. Key aspects include the way in which a period of political change and policy disruption were essential to the programme's initiation, and the critical role played by organisations and individuals outside of national government in helping shape new electrification policies and strategies. In addition, the paper identifies the contribution of technology development in cost reduction and achieving the social aims of the programme. Several lessons may be drawn from the institutional and planning arrangements that the South African programme has developed, the significance of the development of appropriate cost-driven technical innovations and standards, and the acknowledgement of the social function of electrification and its funding from the fiscus (rather than through cross-subsidies).

[1]  Pragasen Pillay,et al.  Energy services in sub-Saharan Africa: how conducive is the environment? , 2004 .

[2]  M. Borchers,et al.  Rural electrification supply options to support health, education and SMME development , 2000 .

[3]  Nomawethu Qase,et al.  The contours of domesticity, energy consumption and poverty: The social determinants of energy use in low-income urban households in Cape Town townships (1995-1997) , 1998 .

[4]  C. V. Horen,et al.  Poverty and Power: Energy and the South African State , 1995 .

[5]  T. Shah,et al.  An assessment of South African prepaid electricity experiment, lessons learned, and their policy implications for developing countries , 2003 .

[6]  Charles Trevor Gaunt,et al.  Meeting electrification's social objectives in South Africa, and implications for developing countries , 2005 .

[7]  C. M. Rogerson,et al.  Rural electrification and the SMME economy in South Africa , 1997 .

[8]  John W. Kingdon.  Agendas, alternatives, and public policies , 1984 .

[9]  Charles Trevor Gaunt,et al.  Electrification technology and processes to meet economic and social objectives in Southern Africa , 2003 .

[10]  Charlie M. Shackleton,et al.  Changing energy profiles and consumption patterns following electrification in five rural villages, South Africa , 2006 .

[11]  Woonghee Tim Huh,et al.  The impact of geography on energy infrastructure costs , 2009 .

[12]  S. Karekezi.  Updated Draft Annotated Bibliography Version 4 Prepared for Global Network on Energy for Sustainable Development “ Energy Access ” Theme , 2003 .

[13]  Mark Howells,et al.  Beyond free electricity: The costs of electric cooking in poor households and a market-friendly alternative , 2006 .

[14]  Roula Inglesi,et al.  Aggregate electricity demand in South Africa: Conditional forecasts to 2030 , 2010 .

[15]  A. Eberhard.  Energy consumption patterns in underdeveloped areas in South Africa , 1986 .