There were tears of joy as City of Tshwane MMC for Housing and Human Settlements Aaron Maluleka led the official electricity switch-on ceremony at De Wagendrift informal settlement near Moloto on Friday.
Maluleka was accompanied by MMC for Utilities in the City of Tshwane Frans Boshielo.
De Wagendrift residents have been living without electricity since the establishment of the informal settlement in 2004.
The informal settlement was established by farm workers who had been chased away from their dwellings by farm owners in and around De Wagendrift area; thus rendering them homeless.
MMC Maluleka, flanked MMC Boshielo handing out electricity appliance to an elderly lady resident of De Wagendrift photo supplied
De Wagendrift informal settlement area is situated near the Moloto Road near Cullinan and has 280 stands which have now been officially electrified.
During the official electricity switch-on ceremony tears of joy could be seen in the eyes of the residents as they sang and danced; clearly relieved that from now on they will be able to use electricity in their homes without having to resort to illegal electricity connections.
The residents also received gifts like irons and kettle to make matters easy regarding their domestic chores.
One resident, Malesela Martin Chaba said they had been living for 18 years in the De Wagendrift area as illegal squatters and were awarded permanent strands in 2023 by the Department of Housing, and that they have since then been struggling with the issue of electricity.
“I am happy and relieved that finally we have electricity in our area and would like to thank the City of Tshwane’s new administration for its efforts in electrifying our area,” said Chaba.
According to MMC Maluleka, 218 stands have been electrified and there’s still 45 stands which need electrification.
He said in 2023 Eskom identified De Wagendrift as its priority project as it falls within its feeder area and after planning and design for the electrification of the area had been completed, an application for funding was submitted to the Department of Energy and Electricity and the said funding was granted in early 2025, and the actual electrification process started in June this year at a cost of R5,5 million.
“The erstwhile Dinokeng Tsa Taemane Local Municipality is the one that initially identified portion 79 of the farm De Wagendrift and acquired it for the settlement of the evicted farm workers,” he said.
He indicated that the City of Tshwane is on a mission to develop the area by building roads and providing piped water and sanitation to the residents of De Wagendrift.
“Now that there is electricity in De Wagendrift informal settlement, opportunists and criminal elements will come to the area and cheat those who are vulnerable among you of their stands, but I am saying to you don’t sell your stands, they are for the benefit of yourselves, your children and grandchildren,” said Maluleka as he warned beneficiaries of the electricity project against rogue elements that may take advantage of them.
“Protect the little infrastructure that is in your area at the moment and also make sure that those newly-installed electricity cables don’t get stolen,” pleaded Maluleka.
In a radio interview later on Friday afternoon, MMC Maluleka revealed that there are “little Eskoms at various informal settlements who profit from the plight of the residents by providing them with illegal connections and that legal electricity connections like that implemented at De Wagendrift informal settlement will rescue the residents from the throes of the said criminal elements and residents will now contribute to the coffers of the Municipality when using electricity.”