| Description: | Energy poverty is rife in South Africa. In 2008, official figures were released which showed that 2.5 million households were not connected to the electricity grid, and of these, most are in the rural areas. 70% of rural households still rely to some extent on wood fuel and paraffin, and this in spite of them having electricity. The CURES secretariat and Restio Energy have released this paper on Energy Poverty in South Africa intended to stimulate debate in the network, amongst the public and amongst decision makers. |