Rising electricity costs places strain on the pockets for all South Africans, however there are some ways to help ease the added weight on your wallet!
Free Basic Electricity
The Department of Energy (http://www.energy.gov.za/) describes Free Basic Electricity as follows: “FBE is the amount of electricity, which is deemed sufficient to provide basic electricity services to a poor household. This amount of energy will be sufficient to provide basic lighting, basic media access, basic water heating using a kettle and basic ironing in terms of grid electricity and basic lighting and basic media access for non-grid systems.”
The focus is for households in the Lower LSM (Living Standards Measure) to benefit from Free Basic Electricity, so you should inquire with your municipality to find out if you qualify!
Indigent Rebate
The City of Cape Town offers the Indigent Rebate which could help you with your basic household needs if your household income is less than R6000 a month.
To find out more and apply for an “indigent rebate” on your electricity consumption, we suggest to you to go to the following City of Cape Town website for an explanation of indigent criteria and policy and application forms.
https://www.capetown.gov.za/en/rev/Pages/ApplicationForms.aspx
You can also email your query to the City of Cape Town: customersupport.services@capetown.gov.za.