South Africa’s energy poverty crisis is intensifying, with rising electricity tariffs, higher fuel costs and a sharp increase in the price of illuminating paraffin placing further pressure on already stretched household budgets.
Although national load shedding remains suspended, consumers are facing a different form of energy crisis as the cost of keeping homes lit, warm and supplied with power becomes increasingly unaffordable.
For lower income households, the pressure is severe. Paraffin remains a fundamental source of energy for many families who cannot afford electricity, while the rising cost of fuel is adding another burden through transport and household expenses.
Neil Roets, CEO of Debt Rescue, said the situation was unfolding against an increasingly difficult economic backdrop.
“This crisis is unfolding against the backdrop of high unemployment, wages and salaries that are not keeping up with inflation, escalating food and petrol costs and soaring paraffin prices, placing unbearable financial pressure on already vulnerable households,” Roets said.
“For these families, paraffin is not an alternative option, it is a fundamental for survival. When the price of paraffin escalates to a point, as it has, where it becomes unaffordable, we are looking at a national emergency. It goes without saying that these households have long since not been able to afford electricity.”
From an electricity crisis to an affordability crisis
South Africa’s energy crisis has traditionally been associated with rolling blackouts and unreliable electricity supply. However, the suspension of load shedding shifted the nature of the problem.
Households are now increasingly confronted by the cost of accessing energy itself.
Electricity prices have increased by more than 900% since 2007, significantly outpacing general inflation. At the same time, a 9% municipal electricity increase in July 2026 has added to the financial burden facing consumers.
The affordability problem is particularly acute among households that fall through the cracks of existing support mechanisms.
Roughly 10 million households qualify for Free Basic Electricity, but only about 2 million are reported to receive the benefit because of administrative hurdles associated with municipal registration.
Many of those affected are backyard dwellers and other low income households without formal municipal accounts.
As electricity becomes increasingly unaffordable, households are turning to alternative energy sources. But these options are also becoming more expensive.
Solar power requires an upfront investment that many households cannot afford. Generators require petrol or diesel, while paraffin and other alternative fuels are becoming increasingly costly.
This leaves vulnerable families with fewer affordable options to meet basic energy needs.
Paraffin price surge raises alarm
The sharp rise in illuminating paraffin prices has emerged as one of the most concerning aspects of the crisis.
The Motor Industry Staff Association has called for targeted subsidies to protect low income households, with the wholesale price of illuminating paraffin having risen by R11.67 per litre.
Martlé Keyter, MISA’s Chief Executive Officer for Operations, said the consequences could extend beyond energy affordability.
“It is a basic necessity for the poorest of the poor,” Keyter said.
“The doubling of its price threatens to deepen energy poverty, exacerbate food insecurity and strip vulnerable households of their dignity. Families already struggling to survive will be forced into harsher conditions, with limited alternatives available to them.”
Roets said illuminating paraffin is particularly vulnerable to international oil market movements because it is a crude oil refining byproduct and is exposed to international shocks through the Basic Fuel Price formula.
Mid month data from the Central Energy Fund indicated that motorists are also facing pressure, with petrol under recoveries of between 63 and 74 cents per litre and an expected paraffin increase of R2.15 per litre due to the impact of the Middle East conflict on global oil markets.
Households face impossible choices
The convergence of higher energy, food and transport costs is leaving consumers with increasingly difficult choices.
For some families, the choice is between buying enough nutritious food and purchasing the fuel needed to cook it. Others may have to choose between heating their homes, keeping the lights on and paying for transport to get to work.
Roets said the situation was placing households under unbearable financial pressure.
“This is not as a result of over spending, far from it,” Roets said.
“The fact is, people are turning around every cent, but are simply unable to make ends meet every month, and are using their store and credit cards to fill the gap.”
“The sad fact is, that every additional rand spent servicing debt is a rand that is no longer available for groceries, transport or other household necessities,” he added.
The pressure is reflected in household debt levels, with more than half of South Africa’s population reportedly spending over 40% of their take home pay servicing debt.
The growing reliance on credit means that rising energy costs are not simply an affordability issue. They are also contributing to a wider consumer debt problem.
A recent Debt Rescue survey found that food and groceries were the most difficult household expense to afford, identified by 39.6% of respondents.
Fuel and transport followed at 28.6%, while electricity and utilities accounted for 19.6%. Debt repayments were identified by 12.1% of respondents.
The figures illustrate how energy costs are competing directly with other essential household expenses.
Roets said consumers needed to distinguish between borrowing that supports financial progress and borrowing that simply allows households to survive until the next pay cheque.
The latter can create a cycle in which more income is diverted towards debt repayments, leaving less available for essentials and forcing consumers to borrow again.
A structural problem requires more than temporary relief
Roets said consumers experiencing sustained financial distress should seek professional assistance rather than relying increasingly on short term borrowing.
As a registered debt counsellor, he said structural debt problems require formal and regulated intervention before financial obligations become unmanageable.
The immediate challenge, however, extends beyond individual household budgeting.
The combination of high unemployment, stagnant wage growth, food inflation, rising transport costs and escalating energy prices is creating a structural affordability problem that places vulnerable households at the greatest risk.
ashley.lechman@nationalmg.co.za