Where is our power, City Power?
Zuma, mayor visited as part of election ploy, but nothing since then
THEMBELIHLE, an informal settlement in the south of Lenasia, has been fighting for electrification for at least 15 years. Today they’re still mostly in the dark.
The settlement is unusual because the 7 000 stands are neatly demarcated, not haphazard like one might expect.
Across parts of the settlement are two cables that run parallel to each other – both provide electricity. One belongs to City Power; the other is illegal, but it’s the one locals call “people’s power”.
The community has relied on their own illegal connections because the city has for years regarded residents as squatters and therefore didn’t have to provide services to them.
Last year, City Power announced that Thembelihle would be part of the city’s project for widespread electrification as the settlement was finally declared an official housing settlement in 2015.
But still electricity has not come to Thembelihle.
It was only on July 30, during a walkabout by Jacob Zuma, that the first four stands of 200 houses were switched on, leaving thousands in the dark.
Now that the elections are done and dusted, the communities have been told the electrification process will continue in phases.
Community activist of the Thembelihle Crisis Committee Nhlakanipho Lukhele said while the community is grateful for the city’s efforts, correct procedure had not been followed.
“When this electrification process began the community was not consulted. We woke up one morning earlier this year and we heard people on loud hailers telling us that Thembelihle would be electrified and we must remove our illegal connections,” Lukhele said.
According to him the community still don’t know the specifics, like how many people will benefit, how long it’s going to take and how much the project is worth.
“Our protest to the offices of City Power last month (July 28) was because we had seen the project begin but it seemed to come to a standstill. In our memorandum, we were asking for information from City Power.
At the march we gave them a timeframe to respond, but they have still not responded,” Lukhele said.
There is also a belief among members of the community that while the project began as a genuine one, it was hijacked by politicians for electioneering.
“They (the president and the mayor) arrived and they hijacked a government programme. They came dressed in their political party regalia,” Lukhele said.
The community’s proportional representation councillor, Simphiwe Zwane, was elected by the community as a direct representative of the community. She said the community just wants assurances.
“All we want is to see the contractors working on the ground. The moment the work stops, or we see 10 people holding one pole, then we get worried. That tells you something is wrong here,” Zwane said.
Resident Issac Makhubela said: “We see that it has begun, but it does not seem to be moving as it should. Some parts of Thembelihle have power, while we don’t. We’ve been promised that the power is coming, but we don’t know when.
“Maybe President Zuma came here and switched on those three houses for our votes,” Makhubela said.
City Power spokeswoman Yumna Sheik explained that the electrification project was a part of a larger project by the City of Joburg through the power utility.
“In his R54.8 billion 2016-2017 budget speech, member of the mayoral committee for finance Geoffrey Makhubo announced that part of City Power’s capital budget of R3.9bn would be used to “continue with the electrification of informal settlements”, Sheik said.
The utility said an estimated R280 million is to be spent in making sure that Thembelihle specifically has power by the end of June next year.
Sheik said the project’s aim is to stop unnecessary electrocutions, restore people’s dignity and to secure uninterrupted power-supply.
At the same time, she said eliminating illegal connections should save revenue for the city.
The utility would also be providing an energy-mix at a later stage, where residents would have options between solar power, gasoline and electricity from its grid, she added.
Sheik dismissed claims that the community had not been consulted at the beginning of the project.
“City Power conducted three community engagements in the area. Three customer liaison officers were appointed from the community as well,” Sheik said.
Community members said they would meet again this weekend to decide their next move as they’re still not satisfied.