City of Cape Town connects 395 homes to the electricity grid in Nomzamo

Nearly 400 households in Nomzamo have been connected to the electricity grid in a multi-million-rand project, but the City has conceded that rapid growth in informal settlements continues to place pressure on electrification efforts.

The R4.9 million project saw 395 homes in the New Village Informal Settlement receive formal electricity connections for the first time, making it one of the City’s largest recent informal settlement electrification initiatives.

Mayoral Committee Member for Energy, Xanthea Limberg, said the project highlighted both the scale of recent investment and the challenges that remain.

“We are enormously excited to celebrate this remarkable project with the community of the New Village Informal Settlement in Nomzamo, which saw 395 homes connected to the formal electricity grid for the first time,” Limberg said.

She said the Nomzamo rollout formed part of a broader programme that has seen more than R35.6 million invested in electrification projects in recent years, resulting in 2 629 household connections across the metro.

“This not only demonstrates the City’s caring approach to delivering dignified and reliable electricity services to all communities, but is also an example of the dedication of our officials and contractors who pulled off this project in just six months,” she said.

However, Limberg acknowledged that while progress was being made, the need for electricity in informal settlements continued to exceed delivery capacity. She confirmed that planning was already under way for a further 304 connections in Nomzamo as part of a phased approach.

Households that receive formal connections qualify for the City’s subsidised Lifeline Tariff, which includes up to 60 units of free basic electricity per month on prepaid purchases, aimed at reducing household energy costs.

The City said access to electricity brings significant safety and social benefits, including reduced reliance on candles and paraffin, which are linked to shack fires. Formal connections also allow learners to study at night and households to refrigerate food and use basic appliances safely.

Limberg said the Energy Directorate’s electrification work formed part of the City’s broader informal settlement upgrading programme and thanked officials, contractors, stakeholders and residents for partnering with the City on the project.

The City noted that electrification projects are governed by the Municipal Finance Management Act, which restricts the use of public funds to informal dwellings and backyarders on City-owned land where site conditions allow. Officials said that in older, City-supplied informal settlements, almost all feasible areas have already been electrified.

In recent years, the City of Cape Town has invested tens of millions of rand to expand formal electricity access in informal settlements such as Nomzamo. While these phased, multi-million-rand projects have connected thousands of households and reduced safety risks, the City has repeatedly acknowledged that the continued expansion of informal settlements means demand for electricity remains ahead of delivery.

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