- Residents of Egoli informal settlement in Schaapkraal have been without electricity for three weeks.
- A long-term resident highlighted the dangers and difficulties faced, especially for those with health issues and young children.
- Efforts to restore power are hindered by vandalism and the property owner’s refusal to allow installation of electricity boxes, leaving residents reliant on unsafe, illegal connections.
For three weeks, residents of Egoli informal settlement in Schaapkraal have been in the dark.
Cynthia Maqalaza, a mother of three, reached out to People’s Post in desperation.
“Schaapkraal has no electricity and we can’t do anything without power,” she says.
Maqalaza, who has been living in Egoli for more than two decades, poured her heart out.
She says:
The concerned mother says it’s difficult to make a fire every morning as it affects her son who has asthma. “My son has asthma so I can’t make fires all the time and in the mornings. We must wash with cold water,” she shares. “It is so cold inside our shacks…my neighbour has a new baby girl and there is no electricity, it is so difficult.”
Referring to the elections tomorrow, Maqalaza says political parties only come to the townships to get votes.
“The same week that we didn’t have power political parties came here and promised us houses and that they would fight for us. They give us T-shirts but don’t come back. It is a disaster here, even our roads are dark.”
“It has been 28 years that we have been here and there was no electricity, but the City promised that they will bring electricity boxes.”
However, due to the land owner’s apparent decision not to give permission for electricity boxes and cables to be installed, residents have for years been using illegal electricity connections. “We knew what we were doing was illegal and it was wrong, but we did it because they never gave us electricity,” she said. “Law enforcement is here day and night so that we can’t take power (electricity), but we asked them what must we do? We’ve been here for 28 years without power boxes.”
Continous outage
In a notice to residents on Tuesday 14 May, Ward 43 councillor Elton Jansen wrote that vandalism caused a “continuous” electricity outage in the area.
“Schaapkraal and surrounding residents, I apologise for the continuous outage in the area as a result of the vandalism that happened last night (Monday 13 May 2024),” the notice read. “In less than 24 hours, after a brand new transformer was installed, it was vandalised by a group of angry people apparently from Egoli informal settlement who are demanding electricity.”
The areas affected included Schaapkraal, Kraal, Boom, Boundary, Varkensvlei roads Philippi and surrounding areas.
“Electrifying Egoli will solve the problem but only with permission from the property owner, who is not willing to give permission at this stage. I have been engaging the owner for the last seven years and will again reach out to him,” read the notice.
Jansen further explained that the area remained volatile, which delayed efforts to restore electricity. “The Egoli informal settlement is located on privately owned land and permission is required for the City to install electricity. When an informal settlement is situated on privately owned land only basic services can be provided with permission.”
The City added that residents in informal areas are generally provided with services but cannot do so on private land.
