South African state-owned power utility Eskom said it has distributed 1.3 million economic energy-saving bulbs over the past six months. The four provinces which benefited from this project are kw-Zulu Natal, Western Cape, Eastern Cap and Free State. The bulbs will help save 67 MW, enough to power 80% of a town as big as Mthata (120,000 residents).

“Auditors will do random visits to some homes to verify the installation of lamps. Homeowners are cautioned to be vigilant and to check the identity of the person who says they are an Eskom represented auditor,” the utility said in a statement.

The project falls under an Energy Efficient Lighting Exchange Programme developed by Eskom to save energy. Eskom’s program will allow the installation of 5.2 million energy efficient light bulbs across nine provinces in the country, by March 2018.

Gwladys Johnson