Philippi families demand electricity
But in order for electricity infrastructure to be installed, the City of Cape Town says, some families must move
There are webs of illegal electricity connections on the ground and over shacks in Ramaphosa informal settlement in Philippi, Cape Town. Photos: Sandiso Phaliso
- Some families will have to move from Ramaphosa informal settlement in Philippi if the area is to get electricity, says the City of Cape Town.
- There have been tensions since 2018 between the residents of Ramaphosa and those living in the nearby RDP houses because of illegal connections which cause regular outages.
- The City says the land is partly privately owned and partly owned by the Housing Development Agency.
Webs of illegal electricity connections run through the narrow pathways of Ramaphosa informal settlement in Philippi and over the shacks.
Residents have been asking the City of Cape Town to install formal electricity in the community for years. But the City says some families will have to be relocated first to make way for electricity infrastructure. A meeting to discuss a way forward is planned for next week.
Protesters from Ramaphosa informal settlement took to the streets a week ago, blocking traffic and burning tyres to renew their demand for electricity.
Residents told GroundUp that tension has been brewing since 2018 between the shack dwellers and those living in the nearby RDP houses over the illegal connections which cause regular outages. GroundUp reported in 2020 that some households were left without electricity for over five months as a result of vandalism, forcing residents in the RDP houses to start their own patrols to stop illegal electricity connections and to protect their properties.
“The municipality has failed us,” says Sibongile Mtshana, who moved to Ramaphosa informal settlement in 2018.
Mtshana said he and other residents have had to resort to illegal connections. “We are all citizens and should be provided with electricity like everybody else.”
“We have complained to the City on numerous occasions, but our pleas have fallen on deaf ears,” he said.
Community leader Babalwa Siswana said they were aware of the need for some of them to be moved before the City could start the electrification process, but they were hoping for a temporary solution in the meantime. She said they had been told that the relocation would happen around September this year.
GroundUp spoke to a man who connects people illegally in Philippi, who asked to remain anonymous. He says he charges people between R100 and R200 to connect from nearby streetlights. He earns up to R3,000 in a busy month, he says.
One of the vandalised electricity boxes near Ramaphosa informal settlement in Philippi, Cape Town.
According to Xanthea Limberg, the City’s mayco member for energy, the network will have to be upgraded through the installation of a sub-station before the area can be electrified. “For this, we are depending on the relocation of informal structures to make way for our infrastructure,” said Limberg.
But it is unclear when shacks will be moved from the site. Limberg said part of the land is privately owned and part is owned by the Housing Development Agency. The HDA had not responded to GroundUp’s questions by the time of publication.
While Limberg did not say when the Ramaphosa electrification project would happen, according to a subcouncil report the project was included in the budget for the 2023/2024 financial year.
Limberg said that theft and vandalism of electricity infrastructure has been a major problem across the city. “Area South, which includes Philippi, is particularly impacted,” said Limberg.
She said the City spent millions of rands after thousands of incidents of electricity vandalism and illegal connections in 2024. The City has earmarked more than R4-billion over the next three years to upgrade and maintain electricity infrastructure across the metro.
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