It will be a cold and dark Ramadaan for these Delft residents who recently moved into a new housing scheme.
Their happiness short-circuited after learning their new homes came without electricity - for the past seven months, they’ve been forced to use paraffin lamps, gas stoves and galley blikke to keep warm, and cook food.
The 20 families in the 80 houses in Smartie Town in Roosendal now want the City of Cape Town to sort out the problem.
But the City says mense knew there would be no power when they took occupancy in December.
For Luqmaan Brett, 56, and his wife Gaironessa Saban, 50, it was a 20-year-old dream come true when they moved into their new house.
But they have yet to take their flat screen television out of its box, or use their fridge and oven.
Gaironessa says it’s going to be hell to without krag this pwasa.
The Muslim holy month of fasting started today.
She says: “We cannot buy meat, we cannot make pies, samoosas or our cookies.
“We are happy to be inside our home but being in the dark and cold will be making the fast and Eid unpleasant.”
Rene Onverwag, 47, says: “I have to use a paraffin lamp and it’s very dangerous for the children.
“We want to know why there is no electricity, here aren’t even electricity poles. We had to cut the bush down behind the house because people get robbed and cars get stolen.
Veronica De Huis, 56, says skollies tried to break in last week.
“They tried to come through the window and shots were fired in the street,” she says.
Salome King, 32, lives with her two disabled children, four-month-old Shay-Lynn who has Down’s Syndrome and Aden, three, who has a heart condition.
The mom says: “It’s so dark that my baby cries and screams, and it is very cold, they stay sick with runny noses.”
But Councillor Benedicta van Minnen says mense knew there was no krag when they moved in in December.
“At this stage, and in an effort to accommodate our first beneficiaries who wanted to take occupation, and as per agreement, the handover preceded the finalising of the electricity installation by Eskom. In addition, if these houses were left vacant, they would have been at risk of vandalism, theft and possibly illegal occupation.”
She adds the first houses in Roosendal should have power by the end of September.
But Rene says they were promised power by April, and now they would have to wait another four months for light at the end of their dark tunnel.