Elections: What the ANC, DA, EFF and MK promise on electricity as load reduction lingers

Eskom said on Friday that its power fleet was performing at a six-year high, yet customers in parts of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal still faced load reduction.

The update comes less than two weeks before the 4 November Local Government elections. The ANC, DA, EFF and MK party set out their electricity plans in their manifestos.

The ANC and DA focused on improving municipal networks; meanwhile, the EFF wants electricity treated as a public good, and MK Party targets private power producers.

According to Eskom, its energy availability factor for the financial year to date reached 68.2%, the best level in six years.

These gains reflect sustained operational improvements under the Generation Recovery Plan and have contributed to South Africa recording 518 consecutive days without loadshedding since 16 May 2025.

The EFF said its municipalities would treat electricity as a public good. The party pledged free prepaid meters and in-house technicians to manage local grids.

The MK Party has taken a different stance, focusing on the role of private power producers in the energy sector.

Increasingly, we see the commodification of electricity, water, and transport because of those who seek to profit from the provision of basic services.

The DA has framed electricity as part of its broader promise to improve municipal functionality. DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis stated that the party would prioritize reinvesting electricity revenue into infrastructure and enabling municipalities to manage their own power procurement.

The ANC manifesto emphasizes the party’s progress in ending national load-shedding and promises to ensure that electricity reaches every home and business without interruption, while also focusing on reducing technical and non-technical losses through better coordination with Eskom.