Illuminating communities

The City of Ekurhuleni has been rolling out solar high-mast lights in non-electrified informal settlements in an effort to reduce crime and increase safety.

Illuminating communities

As part of the City of Ekurhuleni’s programme to make informal settlements habitable and restore human dignity by installing basic services, the city recently installed solar high-mast lights at Tsietsi Phase 5, in Katlehong. The solar technology provides low-cost, low-maintenance lighting to communities.

The city is targeting renewable energy to curb and minimise escalating costs of electricity to its residents. Cllr Makhosazana Mabaso, MMC for Environment Resources Management, says solar PV has been identified as the best available technology to invest in to augment the current electricity supply, which is facing increasing demand.

Solar panels have already been installed on the rooftops of most of the municipal buildings. These are connected to the national grid to ease the pressure on the existing energy supply in

the short term. Ekurhuleni is also increasing solar panel installations for individual households, which will decrease residential household consumption.

This is important because Ekurhuleni often experiences electricity grid overload in winter seasons due to illegal connections and meter by-passing, resulting in power outages. A renewable energy solution provides light for communities without adding a further load to the electricity grid.

In direct response to this, Ekurhuleni has allocated R1.2 billion in the 2020/21 budget for maintenance and operations to deal with power interruptions and outages. The main focus areas will be illegal connections, cable theft, the refurbishment of substations, as well as streetlight and meter tampering.

“Power interruptions experienced recently have been a source of strain for our people and businesses alike. We recognise that

Installing solar high-mast lights in Katlehong

electricity insecurity has a significant impact on the productivity businesses, particularly those in manufacturing, which make up a significant number of enterprises in our city,” says Cllr Nkosindiphile Doctor Xhakaza, MMC for Finance, ICT and Economic Development.

To help stabilise supply, a programme to purchase electricity from independent power producers will be finalised in the new financial year. A total of 46 companies have already been awarded tenders to generate additional energy for the city.

Electrifying informal settlements

Ekurhuleni has always prioritised the electrification of the city, including informal settlements.

In his 2020 State of the City Address, Executive Mayor Mzwandile Masina noted that, since the beginning of his term of office, 34 informal settlements had been reblocked and electrified, resulting in almost 50 000 people enjoying electricity for the first time. This includes an additional 6 546 electrified informal settlement households under the Eskom-licensed areas.

A number of informal settlements were added to the electrification programme and by June this year, a total of 22 000 homes had been connected – bringing the total number of households connected to the grid since the year 2000 to 93 000.

“In our quest to minimise the threat of our people becoming victims of crime, we have rolled out 3 646 streetlights across the city and 295 high-mast lighting [installations], mainly in previously disadvantaged areas and new establishments,” said Masina.

He noted that cable theft remains a challenge that destabilises the effective functionality of government, business and the community at large. However, he added that Ekurhuleni had deployed new technology to fight cable theft and is also seeking an alternative to copper to minimise theft. Since August 2019, over 116 arrests had been made.