Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning
Question by:
Hon Brett Herron
Answered by:
Hon Anton Bredell
Question Number:
1
Question Body:
With reference to the research conducted on the proposed increase to the free water and electricity allocations for indigent households:
- Whether the study will be released to the public; if so, when will it be released; if not, why not;
- whether a copy can be made available to any Member; if not, why not;
- what concrete steps is his Department taking to ensure that municipalities revise their indigent support policies in line with the updated research findings;
- whether his Department has set any (a) timelines or (b) targets for municipalities to review their indigent allocations; if so, what are the relevant details;
- according to his Department’s data, how many indigent households in the province exhaust their free electricity allocation before month-end;
- whether his Department has considered differentiated allocations for (a) larger households, (b) backyard dwellers or (c) multigenerational homes that consume more than what the current allocation allows; if so, what are the relevant details?
Answer Body:
- The research contained in the Comparative Study for the Basket of Services provided by Western Cape Municipalities (March 2025), will be made available to the public via the Western Cape Provincial Government Website.
- The research contained in the Comparative Study for the Basket of Services Provided by Western Cape Municipalities (March 2025), will be made available to any member of Parliament.
- The Department has shared the research findings with municipalities and has raised it at various intergovernmental engagements in order to facilitate a review process of existing municipal free basic services thresholds. While we will monitor the responsiveness of municipalities, we have and can continue to carry it in at national IGR platforms. The review of the free basic services is resource dependent i.e. budget availability.
- Kindly note the role of the Department as explained in 3 above.
- The research conducted was based on data received directly from the municipalities. The Department does not currently hold province-wide data at the household level on the rate at which indigent households exhaust their free electricity allocation prior to month-end. We do, however have data on the number of indigent households per municipality in the Province.
- The research in the Comparative Study does address the principle of differentiated service allocations and the inadequacy of flat-rate allocations for households with varying needs but does not go into details other than explicitly identifying household size as a key variable that the current flat-rate allocation framework fails to account for. In addition, the equitable share grant is a national initiative which is regulated by national criteria.
Date:
Friday, May 22, 2026
