Over the next couple of months one thousand houses in Enkanini, an informal settlement in Kayamandi, Stellenbosch, will receive electricity from Stellenbosch Municipality.
Electricity will be provided to designated beneficiaries in Enkanini. PHOTO: Marianne Stewart
Phase 2 of the Electrification of Enkanini Project commenced at the beginning of March, according to Stuart Grobbelaar, spokesperson of Stellenbosch Municipality.
“Phase 2 includes the electrification of 1 000 households in Enkanini. A total of 243 houses were electrified last year, as part of Phase 1 of the project,” said Grobbelaar.
The Integrated National Electrification Programme has contributed R12 million for this Project, while an additional R5.2 million was provided by the Stellenbosch Council, according to Nombulelo Zwane, manager of electrical services at Stellenbosch Municipality.
“A beneficiary committee was established with the assistance of the ward councillor and the community leaders, who identified the thousand beneficiaries,” said Mark Benson, manager of planning, design and construction services at Stellenbosch Municipality.
The Project, which will provide beneficiaries in sections H, I and G of Enkanini with electricity, is expected to be completed by the end of June, according to Benson.
In preparation for the installation of electricity lines by the municipality, around 250kg of illegal wiring was removed from houses by the municipality and the community of Enkanini, at the beginning of March. PHOTO: Stellenbosch Municipality
“A new hybrid network consisting of an underground medium voltage network and an overhead low voltage network will be installed to provide grid connections [to the beneficiaries],” said Benson.
The housing structures of the beneficiaries will be provided with a ready board and prepaid meter, which will allow the beneficiaries to buy electricity via the municipal vending system, according to Benson.
“The illegal connections creates overload on the network and forces us to switch off the paying customers as the network is then operationally unsafe to operate,” according to Benson. PHOTO: Marianne Stewart
Addressing illegal electricity connections
The municipality is aware that illegal electricity connections are being put up in Enkanini daily but warns that “illegal connections cost lives and are extremely dangerous”, according to Grobbelaar.
For the Project’s contractors to start on site, illegal electricity connections had to be removed, said Grobbelaar.
“The municipality worked with the community to remove illegal connections in the area,” said Grobbelaar.
Around 250kg of illegal wiring was removed from houses in Enkanini as part of this effort, according to a tweet by Stellenbosch Municipality on 18 March.