On Sunday, 28 September 2025, the Energy Poverty Assembly brought together 210 residents of eMalahleni — 40% pensioners, 50% middle-aged parents, and 10% youth, with women making up 65% of participants. The event was convened by the South African Green Revolutionary Council (SAGRC) in partnership with the Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC).

The Assembly confirmed the findings of the recently released Energy Poverty Survey, showing that households in eMalahleni are trapped in unbearable energy poverty, despite living next to Eskom’s power stations and coal mines. Most families cannot afford electricity bills, with many forced into illegal connections or burning coal, wood, and paraffin — endangering their health and safety.

Key issues raised included:

1.    Failure of the Free Basic Electricity (FBE) program — many households not registered as indigent.

2.    Unemployment and inequality — mining has not created jobs; environmental damage has left many residents, especially women, unemployable.

3.    Municipal failures — incorrect billing, the unexplained R100 surcharge on prepaid users, poor communication, and mistreatment of pensioners.

4.    Daily survival struggles — women fetching wood or scavenging coal just to keep their families alive.

Councillor Sizwe Mathebula, representing the eMalahleni Local Municipality, admitted to the challenges but cited reduced municipal funding and poor data from Stats SA as additional obstacles.

Adopted Declaration:

The Assembly adopted the declaration “eMalahleni Community United Against Energy Poverty – A Call for Free Basic Electricity”, demanding:

1.   Registration of all indigent households for FBE.

2.   End to electricity cut-offs for poor families, pensioners, and child-headed households.

3.   Increase of FBE from 50kw to 350kw per month.

4.   End to full-cost recovery for municipalities.

5.   Equitable share allocation to municipalities as conditional grants.

6.   Introduction of a wealth tax and higher corporate tax to fund basic services.

7.   Universal electrification of formal and informal settlements.

8.   End to deposit requirements for social housing electricity.

9.   No charges for transformer replacements.

10.   Rollout of community-owned solar and wind energy projects to create jobs.

11.   Skills development for local youth and bursary schemes free of nepotism.