At the broadest level, one of the key challenges facing post-apartheid South Africa is to achieve a balance between equity and efficiency goals. On the one hand, the democratic government wishes to improve the quality of life of the majority of the population, whilst on the other, the country needs an efficient and internationally competitive economy. At the more specific level of household energy policy, this efficiency-equity linkage represents a key challenge for policy-making and implementation: it is essential that convergence is sought between household energy strategies aimed at improving energy efficiency, and those strategies which improve the living conditions of the poor. This paper begins by reviewing developments in South Africa＇s household energy sector in the early-1990s, most notably the national electrification plan which was launched in 1991. Despite the attention given to energy efficiency in the government＇s new energy policy, energy efficiency considerations have not yet emerged as a major force in the energy sector. A range of economic and institutional reasons for this are identified and considered. Finally, two interventions on which some progress has been made, are described: these include insulation and thermal performance projects in new low-cost houses, and a compact fluorescent lighting programme.