Energy Sustainability for South Africa’s Poor

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Weighing up the alternatives This occasional paper provides an analysis of the government's efforts to improve the access of poor South African households to various energy sources, particularly electricity, on an affordable and sustainable basis. The two authors describe the energy situation of the poor and comment on essential ingredients for a sustainable energy strategy.

Alix Clark has an MA in Economics from UCT and will shortly obtain an MA from the School of Community and Regional Studies at the University of British Columbia. Prior to working independently as an energy researcher and consultant, Ms Clark was based at the Energy and Development Research Centre at UCT where she headed its Markets and Governance team.

Scott Drimie is a research specialist in the Integrated Rural and Regional Development Research Programme. He has a Ph.D from Cambridge University. His doctoral thesis focused on an evaluation of South African land policy as implemented in the period 19941999. During the research period, he established strong relationships with a number of organisations involved in land policy research, both nationally and internationally. Before joining the HSRC, he conducted workshops and presentations around the sustainable livelihoods approach for various NGOs in KwaZulu-Natal. Since joining the HSRC, he has been involved in research around integrated rural development including land reform, agricultural development, micro-finance and emergency relief. He has also worked on the Southern African Regional Poverty Network (SARPN).