Days of staying and walking in the dark alleys for residents of Zamani informal settlement in Duduza are over with the electrification project for over 1 000 houses nearly complete.
Zamani informal settlement was established in 2000 and there are 1 190 shacks in the area. The City commenced with the re-blocking process so as to align the shacks and to make way to allow access for emergency services vehicles and waste removal trucks for comprehensive municipal services to the residents.
Subsequent to the re-blocking process, the City commenced with the electrification project in October 2021 and the project will be fully completed by the end of April 2022. The electrification work includes the installation of electric poles, laying cables, connecting the transformers and providing each household with a split meter which will allow for the remote monitoring of energy consumption and promote purchase of electricity from only registered vendors.
Sphamandla Ngozo (45) a resident of Zamani informal settlement in Duduza could not contain his joy at being able to legally purchase electricity to power his house and use electrical appliances in his house.
“I moved into this area in 2002 with my wife and three kids, and we stay in a three-room shack. We have been connecting electricity illegally as we needed to have electricity to power basic appliances. Now I’m happy as I will be able to buy my own electricity and manage it as per my consumption needs,” Ngozo said.