JOHANNESBURG - Government is proposing changes to the way free basic electricity is allocated to low-income households.
The current system has been in place for more than 20 years.
Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said the policy needs to reflect how household electricity consumption has changed.
He was speaking at a media briefing on Tuesday, where he outlined South Africa’s Revised Electricity Pricing Policy, which is scheduled to be gazetted for public comment on Friday, 21 August 2026.
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According to Ramokgopa, household needs have shifted, and government may boost the monthly free allowance to between 200 and 300 kilowatt-hours.
Eligibility would depend on total household income.
"The profile of consumption has changed. The poor, as we understood them previously, have changed significantly to today; even under conditions of difficulty and strain, they've got a television set, a cell phone, a fridge and an electric kettle.
"That was not in our earlier computation of 2000 or so, when we put together the free basic dispensation. We say on account of that, there's a basis for us to increase the free basic allocation," he said.
Ramokgopa said they are also going to modernise free basic electricity administration by means of establishing a central and nationally accessible free basic electricity database.
"With the new age of technology, we're able to have that database in place. That is possible because we integrate this database with existing databases of Home Affairs and also with the social grant databases, so there's a good chance that someone who qualifies for the social grant will also qualify for free basic electricity,” he said.
Free Basic Electricity is the electricity allocated to support low-income households, with a maximum amount between 50kWh and 60kWh per household, depending on the municipality of residence
The customer is then charged for anything used above this limit.