The transformative role of clean, safe and affordable energy in reducing poverty and inequality, and in improving the quality of life of poor South African households as envisaged in the 1998 Energy White Paper, has failed to materialise to any significant degree, says State institution and research developer Public Affairs Research Institute (Pari) senior researcher Dr Tracy Ledger.
In the second working paper on energy and society, she reveals that the overwhelming reason for this failure is the collapse of energy policy and governance, and the absence of effective oversight of how local municipalities have actually delivered energy services to households.
