Illegal electricity connections hovering above IY has been a thorn in the side for certain community member over the years, but could soon be a thing of the past when new legal electricity meters are installed.
There seems to be a light at the end of tunnel for some Imizamo Yethu residents, who were faced with gloomy scenes over recent weeks after suffering their latest fire.
Next month 380 households in the Dontse Yakhe areas of IY will receive “legal, safe and reliable” electricity provided by the City of Cape Town for the very first time.
Residents were delighted to hear some good news for a change and were looking forward to brighter futures.
Margaret Mpanga, who lives with her two children and four grandkids, said the introduction of the electricity brings “peace into their lives”.
“It means a lot, just to be able to switch on a light and being able to boil some water or even cook a meal on a stove. People do not realise how much it means,” she said.
Ms Mpanga added that with the provision of electricity, many of the fires could also be avoided.
“People do not have lights, so they use the candles and that is how many of these fire have started. WIth everybody having electricity, there will be no more fires,” she said.
Another resident, Eric Marele, called on the City of Cape Town to ensure that the project was rolled out to all in IY.
He applauded the City and welcomed the introduction of the electricity meters, but said the City had to work to do when it came to lighting up IY.
“Yes we are solving part of the problem, but we are all in this together and I hope the City will also make sure everybody gets the electricity, because it will make life a little bit easier,” Mr Marele said.
He agreed that many of the fire concerns would be addressed if everybody had electricity.
Community leader, Kenny Tokwe, said there was “growing excitement” about the new meters, which is giving hope to residents in IY.
“There is great excitement because our people are fed up of not having the electricity. Many people would not want to do it the illegal way, but they are trying to survive as well, as they too have families to see to,” he said.
He also explained that with the residents each receiving their own new meters, people would stop being exploited by others who had to share with them. “They will have to go and buy their own electricity and they will not be exploited any longer.”
With new meters, he said, the area would appear cleaner, with the elimination of the “spaghetti wires” from illegal connections.
“I also hope that the City will have a look at the backyard dwellers as well and perhaps try and help there too, because they also have no electricity. Along with that, I think more electricity awareness programmes are needed to educate our people,” Mr Tokwe said.
Imizamo Yethu has also been plagued with illegal connections, many of which are connected to the substations, placing strain on the grid and often causing power outages in Hout Bay (“Illegal connections put strain on grid”, Sentinel News, August 31, 2020.)
Ward councillor Roberto Quintas confirmed that the upcoming project would be rolled out in three phases, from next month.
The first phase, he said, would follow from existing infrastructure and the City would then build onto that as they rolled out over the next two phases.
“We ask that the community co-operate with our officials so that the project can run smoothly, on time and do what it is intended to do. And that is provide this essential service to our residents,” he said.
Mr Quintas added that the planning and design of the project started more than two years ago, but due to “inter-community conflict”, the project had been delayed.
“Some community leaders refused to support the project as it would benefit residents outside of their constituency,” Mr Quintas said.
The City also needed to ensure that superblocking walkways and other infrastructure were in place before implementing the project.