Sophia Town stakeholders working together to find lasting solutions
19 November 2020
Eskom’s electrification programme is guided by the Department of Energy’s Informal Settlements Policy Guidelines for Integrated National Electrification Programme, which stipulates that for the electrification of informal settlements on privately owned land, the City of Cape Town needs to provide a Council resolution and permission letter from the land owner. Read more below:
Sophia Town is an informal settlement, situated in the Blackheath area that spans across Wards 14 (Subcouncil 22), 19 and 108 (Subcouncil 21) and is located within the Eskom supply area.
The City of Cape Town's Electrification Programme Management Department submitted a permission request letter for Sofia Town informal settlement to the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa in 2018, but no response has been received in this regard.
Letters to other private owners were submitted in November 2019. No formal response was received from the owners, but emails from them indicated that they do not support electrification on their properties.
Without the approval of the landowners, the settlement cannot be serviced.
A recent count conducted by the current committee leaders yielded a total of 511 informal dwellings in Sophia Town. This count and personal information of the occupants recorded will be verified by means of a follow-up enumeration to be done by the City's Informal Settlements Management officials, with the support of the current committee.
‘The major dilemma faced in terms of the continuous overload of Eskom’s current Infrastructure in supplying power to the Sunbird Park and Hagley formal areas is as a result of these 511 households that are illegally drawing power from the existing Eskom network.
'Electrification to these Informal dwellers will therefore not only stop the network overload but will also illuminate the safety risk that exists due to these illegal connections - not to mention the damage caused by vandalism,' said the City's Mayoral Committee Member for Energy and Climate Change, Councillor Phindile Maxiti.
‘The City, through its Urban Management Directorate, is convening a series of meetings with all stakeholders to find a lasting solution that will not only assist in the development of the area, but also put less strain on the existing resources within that community. Information sessions will also be conducted with the community and committee on future plans through our subcouncils and Public Participation Unit.
'This approach speaks to our commitment to building a city based on the five pillars: the opportunity city, the safe city, the caring city, the inclusive city, and the well-run city. It informs the holistic view of development that the City pursues’, said the City's Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Management, Alderman Grant Twigg.
Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
