A group of disgruntled residents from informal settlements in Wellington and Mbekweni protested outside Drakenstein Municipality’s head office in Paarl on Thursday, demanding that the municipality deliver on it’s “promises” of electrifying their informal households.
The group of about 100 residents demanded to be addressed by Executive Mayor Stephen Korabie.
They claim some of the informal settlements in Wellington and Mbekweni have been without electricity for nearly eleven years.
Fernando Manelfé, a resident of Die Tuine- informal settlement, said their stay in this informal settlement was legalised through an application granted by the Wellington Magistrate’s Court back in 2013.
Manelfé claimed that this application stipulated that the municipality was to provide the informal settlement with basic services, including electricity.
“For almost 11 years promises upon promises were made that we will get electricity. Our own councillor, who does not even stay in the ward, is no where to be found.
“This is the second time we are protesting this week. This time, we came to municipality’s doorstep,” he said.
According to Manelfé the electrification of informal settlements in the area is crucial due to what he describes as an “increase” in structural fires.
“People have resorted to connecting to nearby houses. This is much more expensive than we would have paid if we had our own meters.”
He said they often find that short circuiting stemming from poor and unsafe electrical connections is a common cause of structural fires.
Manelfé said residents from a total of seven informal settlements marched to the municipal offices on Thursday.
By 12:00 when Paarl Post left the protest, no municipal official addressed the crowd.
Police and municipal law enforcement officers were present to maintain law and order.
In February last year Paarl Post reported on residents on the New Rest Informal Settlement who also claimed that they have been without electricity for nearly eight years.
At the time Executive Director for Engineering Services Louis Pienaar said Drakenstein Municipality is not obliged, mandated or funded to provide the 43 informal settlements in its municipal area with electricity.
“We are obliged to provide water, sewerage and refuse collection services.
“Electricity connections for our registered informal settlements rely mostly on grant funding and can only be installed if our bulk supply network has adequate capacity to handle the additional load or demand.
“Given the challenges outlined above regarding bulk supply capacity and available funding, it is unlikely that the households of New Rest/Die Tuine will receive electrification within the short-term budget framework,” he said.
