Pretoria - The Department of Energy has acknowledged the report by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) which shows that the number of households connected to electricity has increased.
“The percentage of South African households that were connected to electricity increased from 77.1% in 2002 to 85.5% in 2015. The largest increases were noted in the Eastern Cape, followed by Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga,” the department said on Tuesday.
Statistician General Pali Lehohla released the 2015 General Household Survey (GHS) report on 3 June. The survey, which has been conducted by Stats SA since 2002, is aimed at determining the progress of development in the country.
“These data are extremely positive news for the country in terms of the prime focus of the increased access to electricity to ensure a positive socio-economic outcome by ensuring more opportunities in the economic sectors, at the same time decreasing the health risk by eliminating life threatening energy carriers such as paraffin and firewood,” said the department.
The percentage of households with access to electricity increased by less than 2% in the Western Cape over this time, while the percentage of households with access to electricity declined by 3.9% between 2002 and 2015 in Gauteng.
The small increase in new connections in Western Cape is due to the high baseline of households electrified, said the department.
It said the decline noted in Gauteng is linked to the high level of migration to the province and the resultant creation of informal dwellings.
“The Department of Energy will engage the Department of Human Settlements to come up with a plan to expedite the electrification of informal settlement growth in the Western Cape and Gauteng.
“According to the latest data, households in Limpopo (92.9%) and Northern Cape (92.4%) were most likely to have access to electricity, while those in KwaZulu-Natal (81.7%) and the Eastern Cape (82.3%) were least likely to have access,” said the department.
The percentage of households that used electricity for cooking increased from 58% in 2002 to 78.1% in June 2015. Concurrently, the use of paraffin and fire wood declined.
The percentage of households that used paraffin declined from 16.2% in 2002 to 5.4% in 2015, while the percentage of households that used firewood decreased from 19.3% to 9.3%.
“While 85.5% of households have access to electricity, the Department of Energy remains committed to ensuring that universal access to electricity is achieved within the next 10 to 12 years,” it said. – SAnews.gov.za
