By: Zimaseka Daka
In an effort to reduce theft of electricity and deaths caused by illegal connections Buffalo City Metro Municipality embarked on a mission to electrify informal settlements.
BCMM Spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said, electrification will be done on informal settlements situated on legal sites around the City that also meet the necessary requirements. Ngwenya explained that all the areas that meet the requirements have been completed and the Buffalo City Metro Electricity Department is currently working in Kanana informal settlement.
Amongst those areas that have already been electrified are Duncan Village, Mdantsane and Braelyn informal settlements.
Ngwenya said all other areas that do not meet the requirements need to complete spatial planning before electrification can take place.
“The areas do not meet the following; no formal layout, not zoned on a floodplain land and desertification is required,” he said.
Ward 42 Councillor Senduka Maphuka confirmed that a number of shacks have been electrified in his ward. He said electricity was installed in 2016 after he took the community’s pleas to the BCMM Development Planning office.
A resident from NU2 in Mdantsane who didn’t want to be mentioned said, at the informal settlement she lives in there is no electricity yet and added that residents informed their ward councillor about the matter but it has not been resolved.