Posts tagged as “energy”

Firewood merchants doing their delivery rounds in GaThaba, a village under the Polokwane Local Municipality in Limpopo province, South Africa. People in rural areas like this village collect firewood in the forests to sell to local residents who use alternative sources of energy to escape the high electricity tariffs. The over harvesting of wood is however placing the environment under threat. Rural villages like GaThaba are characterised by high rates of unemployment and a general lack of economic opportunities. The National Energy Regulator of SA has approved an 18.65% increase in electricity prices for 2023 – and a 12.74% hike for next year. The increase puts the affordability of electricity beyond the means of most rural households which survive on the state's welfare grants.