KLERKSDORP — The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has found that the City of Matlosana Local Municipality violated constitutional rights and indirectly discriminated against its poorest residents by cutting off their alternative energy support.
According to an investigative report released on Thursday, 20 August 2026, the Commission ruled that the termination of the Free Basic Alternative Energy (FBAE) programme was unlawful.
“Councillor Mahlophe, in his capacity as Executive Mayor, failed to adequately give regard to the needs and views of affected FBAE beneficiaries.”
The Commission found that the municipality acted unlawfully and discriminated against its poorest residents by abruptly terminating the Free Basic Alternative Energy (FBAE) programme.
Following a thorough investigation, the Commission confirmed that allegations against the municipality were fully substantiated. It found that the vital energy programme—which supplied alternative energy sources like paraffin to indigent households—was axed without adequate community consultation and with complete disregard for the needs of the vulnerable beneficiaries.
The SAHRC did not mince words, declaring that the sudden cutoff directly violated residents’ constitutional rights to equality. Because the decision disproportionately stripped resources from the destitute, the Commission ruled that the termination amounted to unfair, indirect discrimination on the grounds of poverty.
Furthermore, the ruling established that the municipality violated the beneficiaries’ right of access to adequate housing, a right that legally encompasses a reliable supply of domestic energy.
City Report has previously reported the Executive Mayor, Fikile Mahlophe and acting Municipal Manger, Baganne Choche, appeared before the SAHRC in relation to the suspended paraffin aid for indigent households, on Monday, 12 January 2026 in Rustenburg.
Mahlophe’s appearance came after the SAHRC indicated that it may open a criminal case against him, if he fails to appear before it on Monday morning. The commission had to subpoenaed him to account after an almost three-month non-response to the SAHRC.
Appearing in the Commission, Mahlophe indicated that the decision to stop the distribution of free paraffin to indigent communities in the municipality was made by the council and not by him.
In addition, he indicated the Matlosana council had noted that providing free paraffin to those communities was financially unsustainable; hence, the programme was stopped.
The FBAE programme was designed to cushion vulnerable, non-electrified households—mostly in rural and informal settlements—against extreme energy poverty.
While the municipality scrapped this vital lifeline for the poor, it continued to provide electricity to formalised areas and Free Basic Electricity (FBE) to qualifying electrified homes. The SAHRC highlighted this as a clear contradiction, stating that the decision unfairly discriminated against beneficiaries based on their poverty status and deepened existing spatial and social inequalities.
Matlosana Municipality defended its decision by citing financial sustainability and a need to curb maladministration. However, the Commission rejected total termination as a justifiable response. The report noted that the town’s administrators could have used less restrictive measures to protect public funds.
Suggested alternatives included tighter supply-chain controls, rigorous beneficiary verification, sourcing cheaper energy alternatives, or utilizing available equitable-share funding to keep the programme running.
“Upon my appointment there were several issues we looked into broadly around the sustainability of services.
“Council took a decision that it is not sustainable for the municipality to provide alternative energy in the form of paraffin from a financial point of view, as well as other aspects, including safety,” said Mahlophe.
The investigation followed a complaint lodged on 2 September 2025 by local resident Xolani Tshabalala, who acted on behalf of hundreds of affected households.
The municipality is now expected to face strict remedial actions to restore energy equity to its most vulnerable residents.
“The termination of the FBAE programme instead perpetuated existing socio-economic disadvantage experienced by poor households in informal and farming communities, who experience a compounded form of poverty.
“The Commission also found that domestic energy supply forms part of access to adequate housing under section 26 of the Constitution, read with the Housing Act. The termination withdrew the only state-supported domestic energy source available to thousands of indigent households without replacing it with electricity or another reliable alternative. It therefore constituted a retrogressive measure which Matlosana failed to adequately justify, particularly given the inadequacy of its electrification plans and absence of sufficient transitional measures.”.
To remedy the violations, the Commission has recommended that Matlosana, within 90 days of receipt of the report, should ensure the provision of alternative energy to former FBAE beneficiaries who still require and qualify for such assistance; submit a time-bound plan for the electrification of former FBAE beneficiary households not covered by existing electrification plans; and submit a progress report on the electrification of former FBAE beneficiaries already included in existing plans, including the number of households electrified since 9 February 2026 and completion dates for outstanding projects.
