Eskom
Boys walk past electricity pylons and the cooling towers of the defunct Orlando Power Station in Soweto, South Africa, June 28, 2018. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo

Home » Eskom Encourages Indigent Households to Claim Free Electricity

Eskom Encourages Indigent Households to Claim Free Electricity

In a bid to alleviate the burden on indigent households during the COVID-19 pandemic, Eskom is reminding qualifying members that they should apply for the free electricity they are entitled to, despite the fact that at least 200,000 households who have already qualified are not using it. Eskom today launched a campaign to raise awareness […]

By SAPeople Staff Writer
12-05-20 17:10
in Featured
Eskom
Boys walk past electricity pylons and the cooling towers of the defunct Orlando Power Station in Soweto, South Africa, June 28, 2018. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo

In a bid to alleviate the burden on indigent households during the COVID-19 pandemic, Eskom is reminding qualifying members that they should apply for the free electricity they are entitled to, despite the fact that at least 200,000 households who have already qualified are not using it.

Eskom
Boys walk past electricity pylons and the cooling towers of the defunct Orlando Power Station in Soweto, South Africa, June 28, 2018. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo

Eskom today launched a campaign to raise awareness of the Free Basic Electricity programme, which entitles qualifying households to get at least 50 kiloWatt hours free electricity a month, depending on the municipality. Households wanting to register must go to their municipalities to be put on Eskom’s list.

At the end of March, Eskom had 900,000 people registered for FBE, the utility said, but only 700,000 were collecting their tokens. The FBE programme was created to help the unemployed, low-earning, destitute and elderly.