Constitutional Energy Mandates and Local Governance in Post-Apartheid Spatial Planning

South Africa’s post apartheid positions municipalities as key actors in the provision of basic services, including electricity. Section 156 and Schedule 4B of the Constitution empower local governments to govern electricity reticulation within their jurisdictions, granting them original authority independent of national or provincial delegation. This legal empowerment has significant implications for spatial planning, especially in historically marginalised regions like De Aar in the Northern Cape. However, the energy governance landscape is populated by multiple institutions with overlapping mandates. The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), though not constitutionally empowered, plays a central role in policy formulation and regulation through the Electricity Regulation Act. Eskom, a state-owned enterprise, dominates generation and transmission, operating under executive mandate and regulatory oversight. These institutional arrangements create tensions between constitutional decentralisation and centralised energy control. This article investigates how constitutional energy mandates are interpreted and operationalised at the municipal level, and how these dynamics shape spatial planning outcomes. Using De Aar as a case study, the research draws on spatial theory, energy justice, and systems theory to analyze the feedback loops between law, infrastructure, and governance. A qualitative methodology is employed, including document analysis of legal frameworks, municipal Integrated Development Plans (IDPs), and interviews with local officials.Findings reveal that while municipalities are legally empowered to provide electricity, their capacity to do so is constrained by technical limitations, fiscal dependency, and regulatory ambiguity. The recent amendments to the Electricity Regulation Act, which allows municipalities to procure power from independent producers, have opened new opportunities but also intensified institutional friction. Municipalities often lack grid access, planning tools, and intergovernmental support needed to translate legal mandates into spatial energy outcomes. The case of De Aar illustrates how constitutional ideals of decentralisation are challenged by systemic bottlenecks and institutional fragmentation. Spatially, this results in uneven infrastructure deployment, limited integration of renewable energy into local development plans, and a disconnect between national energy priorities and local realities. The article argues for a more coherent, capacitated, and collaborative approach to energy governance, one that aligns constitutional mandates with spatial planning and climate adaptation strategies.