NATIONAL SECURITY: THE LEGACY OF RESISTANCE: HOW NON-PAYMENT CULTURE IS UNDERMINING SOUTH AFRICA’S POWER GRID

Hennie Heymans

Abstract

This article explores the long-term consequences of the ANC’s anti-apartheid boycott strategy, which encouraged communities to withhold payment for municipal services as a form of resistance. While effective during the struggle, this tactic inadvertently seeded a post-apartheid culture of non-payment that now undermines service delivery, inflates electricity costs, and deepens municipal debt. Ironically, citizens who invest in solar power to ease grid pressure are now facing new taxes, despite contributing clean energy. The piece argues for a shift from protest to civic responsibility, calling for trust-building, fair subsidies, and protection for compliant and sustainable contributors.

Keywords:

• • ANC boycott strategy
• • civic responsibility
• • electricity tariffs
• • energy sustainability
• • Eskom crisis
• • feed-in tariffs
• • fiscal erosion
• • historical protest legacy
• • illegal connections
• • municipal debt
• • municipal finance
• • non-payment culture
• • populist politics
• • post-apartheid governance
• • public trust
• • renewable energy policy
• • responsible citizenship
• • service delivery
• • solar power taxation
• • South African power grid

Historical Roots of a Tactical Boycott

During the revolutionary struggle, the African National Congress (ANC) and allied movements encouraged communities to boycott municipal payments — including rent, electricity, and water. This was not mere defiance; it was a strategic rejection of the apartheid government’s authority. Refusing to pay was a form of protest, a way to delegitimize a system that denied full citizenship.
But what began as a revolutionary tactic has, in some communities, calcified into a post-apartheid habit — one that now threatens the very infrastructure of democratic governance.

The Unintended Consequences

Today, South Africa faces a paradox:
• Those who pay faithfully are penalized with rising tariffs to compensate for widespread non-payment.
• Illegal connections proliferate, especially in informal settlements, placing strain on the grid and increasing technical losses.
• Municipal debt to Eskom has ballooned to over R90 billion, forcing the National Treasury to intervene repeatedly.
• Electricity becomes more expensive, not because of improved service, but because of systemic shortfalls and fiscal rescue packages.
This is not just unsustainable — it’s unjust.

A Vicious Cycle

The more Eskom and municipalities raise prices to recover costs, the more consumers — especially those already disillusioned — opt out. This fuels:
• Populist politics, where parties promise free services to gain votes.
• Service delivery protests, often rooted in frustration over poor infrastructure and perceived inequality.
• Fiscal erosion, where funds meant for development are diverted to cover basic operational losses.

The Solar Irony

In response to the energy crisis, citizens were encouraged to invest in rooftop solar systems — to become self-sufficient and even feed excess power back into the grid. Yet now, a new irony emerges:
• Solar users are facing new taxes and tariffs, including proposed import duties on solar components and possible levies on feed-in systems. (Source My Broadband)
• The very people who lightened the grid’s burden are now being asked to pay more — not less — for their independence.
• This risks discouraging further investment in renewable energy, especially among middle-income households who took the leap in good faith.
The contradiction is stark: first we were asked to go solar, now we’re taxed for doing so — even while contributing clean energy to the grid.

Breaking the Cycle: What Must Be Done

To restore balance, South Africa must reframe the narrative:
1. Rebuild trust: Citizens must see visible improvements in service delivery and accountability before they’ll willingly re-engage.
2. Re-educate on civic responsibility: Payment is not submission — it’s participation in a shared future.
3. Targeted subsidies: Free basic services should be needs-based, not politically promised across the board.
4. Enforce and incentivize: Illegal connections must be addressed, but legal compliance should be rewarded — not punished by rising costs.
5. Protect solar contributors: Feed-in users should be incentivized, not penalized. A just energy transition must include fairness for those who invest in sustainability.

Conclusion

The ANC’s boycott strategy was never meant to be permanent. It was a tool of resistance, not a template for governance. Today, the challenge is not ideological — it’s practical. South Africa must move from protest to partnership, from resistance to responsibility. And in doing so, it must honour those who contribute — whether through payment or clean energy — not punish them.