Residents of Brakfontein in Alexandria will have a brighter festive season now that they have access to electricity. Eskom began installing a power network in the informal settlement at the end of last month and are nearing completion. Brakfontein is on the eastern margin of Kwanonqubelo township.
In March, Talk of the Town reported on the call by Brakfontein residents for electricity and water.
Around 1 700 residents live in the 345 shacks. Many have been allocated 12m x 17m stands.
They get their water from four communal taps on the streets and a number of water tanks throughout the settlement. But delivery by municipal water trucks to the tanks was unreliable, residents said at the time. Thembelani Mbunge, who moved to Brakfontein from Motherwell, Gqeberha, in 2015, in March told TOTT that water from the four taps, distributed along the settlement’s streets, comes and goes (as it does for the rest of the area).
Without access to electricity, residents have relied on gas, or wood fires for cooking.
“At least we would like water to every house, and electricity,” Mbunge said earlier this year.
This week, in reference to the electricity installations, Mbunge said, “It’s much, much better. We’ve been waiting for more than 20 years for this to happen and now at least there is a change.
“I wish that change could also be for water though.”
This week, Ndlambe communications officer TK Mtiki responded for the infrastructure development directorate. He said the Brakfontein project was being implemented by Eskom under the integrated national electrification project.
“INEP is funded by the Department of mineral resources and energy,” Mtiki said in response to questions from TOTT.
Government policy and plans
The South African government has a policy of upgrading informal settlements in situ to help address the country’ housing backlog. The Upgrading of Informal Settlements Project (UISP) is managed by the national Department of Human Settlements
In South Africa’s system of cooperative governance, municipalities facilitate rather than carry out the upgrading of informal settlements. The funds are transferred in the form of grants from the National Department of Human Settlements to the municipality, which acts as the implementing agent. To access those funds, a municipality must have an informal settlements upgrading plan in place.
According to Ndlambe’s IDP for 2025/26, Brakfontein is one of nine informal settlements for which a budget (R4.5 million for Brakfontein) has been allocated to provide water and sanitation reticulation.
Brakfontein is one of 11 informal settlements that Ndlambe’s 2025/26 integrated development plan (IDP) identifies for upgrading over the next two years. It is currently in phase 3.
Ndlambe’s IDP says: “Ndlambe Local Municipality is committed to breaking new ground (BNG) with the aim of eradicating informal settlements and the creation of sustainable human settlements… Ndlambe is committed to integrate informal settlements into mainstream society by addressing spatial, social and economic exclusion.”
Access the IDP HERE
- This article was first published in Talk of the Town, November 13, 2025. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
