Electrification programmes and projects are usually planned and evaluated on the basis of their economic (financial) and socioeconomic performance. It is not usually recognised that electrification is often carried out for social objectives of poverty alleviation and political effect. Examination of electrification in South Africa reveals clearly that initial electrification was to meet economic objectives, later socio-economic objectives were adopted, and recently the objectives were social. Social electrification, particularly rural electrification, is not viable according to usual assessment methods, which are frequently distorted to provide the justification for a project to proceed. The technology of network electrification changed to meet the constraints, challenging usual perceptions about the relative costs of urban and rural electrification and the potential for photovoltaic electrification. Adopting a specification for social electrification allows suitable tariffs for electrification to be identified, indicates how capital investment decisions might be modified for social electrification, and identifies implications for electricity industry restructuring. A better understanding of electrification's social objectives has implications for projects and programmes in other developing countries. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.