It will be unlawful to sell fluorescent and incandescent light bulbs for use in South African households a year from now, according to regulations published by the trade, industry & competition department on Wednesday.

The proposed amendments were published on 1 March 2021 and South Africans had until 30 April of that year to make submissions.

Trade, industry & competition minister Ebrahim Patel said the new specifications aim to advance the safety, performance and energy efficiency of light bulbs sold in South Africa by eliminating inefficient and environmentally damaging products.

Although specific technologies like compact fluorescent (CFL) and incandescent bulbs are not mentioned, the new specifications set minimum energy-efficiency standards that these lamps are unable to achieve. The new specifications aim to achieve maximum luminous efficiency: the amount of light a lamp can produce for the power it consumes.

The proposed regulations do not ban CFL technology itself, but set minimum limits on efficiency that energy-saver lamps are unable to achieve.

The first phase of the new rules begins 12 months from publication and sets a minimum luminous efficacy of 90 lumens per watt (lm/W) for regular electric lamps. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are currently the only bulb type that come close to reaching the 90lm/W target. The second phase of the new rules begins three years after publication and sets the minimum efficiency at 105lm/W.

Exceptions

South Africa’s new specifications include exceptions for applications outside general household lighting use like technical use in studio lighting, theatre lighting, medical use or in emergencies, among others. But by this time next year the government hopes to have phased out all inefficient and environmentally harmful lighting products in South African homes.