Mogalakwena Local Municipality in Limpopo has made an impassioned plea for increased funding under the Integrated National Electrification Programme (INEP), warning that thousands of households in its vast rural jurisdiction remain without electricity despite the municipality using up its full annual allocation.
The call was made during a Portfolio Committee on Electricity and Energy’s oversight visit to several INEP-funded projects in Limpopo, as part of its ongoing programme to assess progress towards universal access to electricity by 2030.
Mogalakwena, the largest municipality in the Waterberg District with 32 wards, is home to more than 200 rural villages and three townships. Despite this scale, the municipality receives approximately R10 million per financial year from INEP – an amount it says is insufficient to meet demand. Municipal officials told the committee that the entire allocation is spent each year; they appealed for the grant to be doubled to accelerate electrification.
The municipality also urged Eskom to fast-track the electrification of villages that have gone without electricity for more than 15 years, describing the delays as a major barrier to socio-economic development and improved quality of life.
As part of the oversight programme, the committee inspected two grid electrification projects in Morula View and Makapanes Valley in the Mogalakwena Local Municipality. On Monday, committee members visited Eskom’s newly constructed electricity substation in Rampheri Village, as well as grid and off-grid electrification projects in Paledi and Mathibaskraal villages in the Polokwane Local Municipality.
INEP is a flagship government programme aimed at electrifying households in disadvantaged communities, with the goal of achieving universal access to electricity by 2030. According to Statistics South Africa, South Africa’s electrification rate currently stands at 94.7 per cent – a significant increase from 58.1 per cent in the early years of democracy.
More than 8.4 million households have been connected to the national grid, while an additional 226 000 households rely on non-grid technologies such as solar home systems. Over the past 30 years, National Treasury has allocated more than R110 billion to support the programme.
However, despite these gains, major challenges persist. The Department of Electricity and Energy reported that between 1.5 million and 1.8 million households still do not have access to electricity, largely in rural and informal urban areas. Addressing this backlog within five years would require an estimated R60 billion investment in grid infrastructure.
The department further revealed that over the past five years, 837 000 household connections were achieved against a target of 917 000 – an average of 167 000 connections per year. At this pace, South Africa is unlikely to meet its 2030 universal access target. To stay on track, the country would need to connect approximately 300 000 households annually.
Financial constraints remain a key concern. While R19.8 billion was spent over the past five years against a target of R24.7 billion, expenditure has declined over the past three years, averaging only 82 per cent of allocated budgets.
The committee noted that while the electrification programme has made notable progress, oversight visits such as those in Limpopo and Gauteng underscore the urgency of increased funding, improved implementation and stronger coordination between municipalities, Eskom and the department to ensure that no community is left behind in the country’s energy transition.
Justice Molafo
3 February 2026
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