Striving for electricity for all

For the City of Tshwane, the provision of affordable and sustainable access to electricity to all households in the municipal area remains one of the City’s key service delivery priorities.

As unpacked in its Integrated Development Plan for the 2016-21 term of administration, the City committed itself to the provision of access to electricity as a basic service. This pledge was further translated into targeted deliverables, wherein the provision of access to electricity was identified as one of the critical deliverables that the City budgeted for and set out to deliver on.

In its quest to provide access to a reliable and sustainable supply of electricity, the City undertakes to connect households to the mains electricity supply, and upgrade, repair, refurbish and maintain the electricity infrastructure or network. The City also deals with illegal connections and tries to reduce uncounted-for electricity. Extending the provision of access to electricity to previously marginalised areas and addressing the backlog also mark focal areas.

While the City always makes strides to respond adequately to the demand for electricity as a basic service needed by the residents, these intentions are constrained by a number of challenges, which continue to impede the response of the City to the needs of the communities it serves.

Compounding the challenges in the provision of access to electricity is the fact that the City has recorded countless illegal land invasions, which have contributed to the drastic increase in the number of households, especially in informal settlements. It is estimated that there are over 345 000 households in the informal settlements sited across Tshwane, and this places a significant strain on the City’s ability to meet its access to electricity provision obligations.

The City has recently prioritised the provision of electricity to areas without access, focusing specifically on low-cost housing through the implementation of the Electricity for All Programme. Although it has met with significant difficulties, which impeded the full realisation of the targets set, the City made a notable progress in the provision of access to electricity.

Through the New Connections Programme, the City supplies up to 11 kV electricity to all consumers in Tshwane. This takes into consideration the planning, processing and managing of all electrical supplies, and the speedy and accurate compilation of a quotation in accordance with the applicable tariff document, conditions of supply, bylaws and safety standards.

Although there was an observed underperformance with regard to

new electricity connections set to be achieved over the 2019/20 financial year, a total of 1 263 formal households were provided with access to electricity. The underperformance is attributed to the restrictions of the national lockdown, which was experienced from March 2020.

The national lockdown led to the suspension of the construction of projects that were implemented to provide the bulk infrastructure necessary in order to provide for the levels of access to electricity as targeted. It further reduced the capacity of the City and led to insufficient financial resources necessary to support the drive for access to electricity. In the main, new connections cater for the ad-hoc expansion of residential development in Tshwane. The need arises from private development for townships, land use applications (which include subdivisions). These are application driven and can be new upgrades of existing supplies for residences, businesses and industries.

The Electricity for All programme prioritises areas where there is no access to electricity, with a specific focus on low-cost housing, formalised areas and informal settlements, ensuring that these areas are electrified. The programme contributes significantly to the reduction of the electricity access backlog by advancing the provision of new electricity connections to houses not formally connected to the grid.

It supports the provision of basic services in the form of electricity connections to households that were without electricity. Over the 2019/20 financial year, the City electrified a total of 468 households through the implementation of Electricity for All.

The communities that benefited from the Electricity for All programme include located in the following areas: • Soshanguve Block MM – Region 1 • Soshanguve Ext 7 and 19, Zone 14 (informal settlement) – Region 1 • Booysens Ext 4 – Region 3 • Atteridgeville Ext 19 – Region 3 • Mamelodi Phomolong Erf 34 041 –

Region 6 • Mahube Valley Ext 15 – Region 6 • Itereleng Informal Settlement and Zithobeni Ext 8 – Region 7.

In his 2021 State of the City Address, Executive Mayor Cllr Randall Williams reported that the new Wildebees Infeed Substation, which will link to Eskom and the rest of the Gauteng province, is on track to be completed by 2024 in partnership with Eskom. “This is a critical project that is needed to allow our city to grow, to supply the rapidly developing eastern areas of Tshwane and to strengthen the backup supply to many other substations. We cannot encourage development in Tshwane without supplying the needed infrastructure to support it. With this project, we are making a commitment to developers and residents that we can fix today’s problems and build for tomorrow,” Williams stated.

“We are also at an advanced planning stage regarding the refurbishment of both the Mooikloof and Wapadrand Substations, which were damaged during fire incidents. The Utility Services Department is also cognisant of the damage illegal connections inflict on our infrastructure and the reliability of supply, while endangering the residents of Tshwane. This year, we have already conducted multiple removal operations and we will continue our efforts to protect our infrastructure and our people. Our Human Settlements Department is also playing a crucial role in facilitating development across Tshwane.

“These are endeavours by the City to effectively extend services to these areas. These projects will provide a significant improvement in the living standards of these communities. The projects will enhance safety and improve access to basic services in recognition of how important it is to uphold the dignity of those living in informal areas,” said Williams.