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Electricity in low income homes does not prevent fires: Study

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A new study at the University of Stellenbosch has found that access to electricity in low-income homes and informal dwellings does not prevent fires.

The study, done by a member of the university’s Research Alliance for Disaster and Risk Reduction, has found that people still opt for non-electricity energy sources such as candles and paraffin because they are cheaper.

The researcher, Alberto Francioli says he focussed on three areas, Lwandle and Nomzamo in the Strand, and Asanda Village in Somerset West near Cape Town.

“Households, even those that are fully electrified, such as the RDP style, almost 70% of households admitted to still using non-electric energy sourced within a frequent basis. Because they found that electricity is quite an expensive source, they wanted to save electricity to power certain services such as the fridge and television. But then they would use paraffin to for things like cooking and heating the home.”

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