Eskom calls for municipalities to create list of indigent residents

Eskom is calling for municipalities to create a list of indigent residents to help identify those who qualify for free access to power.

Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said of the 2 million people who qualify for the benefit, only about 400,000 are receiving it.

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He was speaking at a media briefing on Thursday, saying he aims to end load reduction in 12 months.

The minister also announced the pending rollout of specialised meters.

“We need municipalities to work with us to generate a robust and credible indigent register, so there’s a framework against which we are able to [determine] someone’s eligibility. That’s not done by Eskom, that’s done by municipalities and sometimes they don’t have that capability, but it’s something we are going to build overtime.”