They’ve waited for three decades, but finally the residents of Jim se Bos informal settlement in Philippi have electricity, after lives and limbs were lost.
On Friday, the Mayoral Committee Member for Energy and Climate Change, Councillor Phindile Maxiti, visited the settlement along Olieboom Room, which sprang into existence in 1984.
Maxiti did a walkabout and inspection, along with Ward Councillor Elton Jansen, other officials and members of the Jim se Bos residents’ committee, discussing where shacks could be moved to accommodate the wiring and trenches for electricity poles.
Huge wooden poles for electricity have already been delivered to the area, and Maxiti said the first phase for 450 connections will be completed by the end of March, and the second phase by May.
The land is privately owned by Sheikh “Abe” Parker, 68, who purchased it in 1987 as a retirement investment.
RELIEF: Anna Jacobs, 64
But Parker was unaware that the land was already home to Jim Kowani, who had been a driver for a company called Cape Lands during the 1980s.
Jim moved onto the vacant piece of land in 1984 with two other families.
Jim was murdered in 1991 in another informal settlement.
His wife, Tshoniswa Kowani, 66, who looks after a blind relative, still lives in the camp.
Parker tried to sell the land to the City after being slapped with a municipal bill of R600 000, but declined after the City offered him only half the value of the land.
Although he didn’t have to, the businessman then allowed the City to install taps and toilets for the residents of Jim se Bos.
In 2016, he told the Daily Voice he was waiting on the City to provide electricity to the mense, but was told that he would have to foot the bill first.
Officials have since changed their minds, and now Jim se Bos is getting power.
But it comes three years too late for 17-year-old Mark Smit, who in 2016 was electrocuted to death while attempting to reconnect an illegal connection.
The City said Jim se Bos, together with the Egoli informal settlement, accounted for approximately 2 000 illegal connections.
The loss of income to the City is estimated at nearly R650 000 a month.
Maxiti says residents will need to look after their new asset: “We will be electrifying 600 families here.
“When you provide services, it is not only for the old people but for children who are attending school and struggling to do their homework.
“The elderly who keep food and the next day it’s old, now they can use a fridge.
Video: Genevive Serra/Daily Voice
“The beneficiaries need to treasure this infrastructure and not vandalise it.”
Parker tells the Daily Voice while he is happy for the community, the City still wants him to pay the outstanding R600 000 bill.
He is currently weighing his legal options, he says.
Anna Jacobs, 64, was one of the first residents to live on the land and says: “When I moved here over 20 years ago, there were only 20 shacks and now we are coming out of the dark and we want to say thank you to God.”
Patricia Masizana, 43, who has been living there for 18 years, adds: “We also want to thank the Daily Voice who has been highlighting our plight over the years.”