Residents of Ivoorhout Street in Delft South, Cape Town, say they have lived without electricity for six months. They told IOL they want help before political parties ask for their votes on 4 November.
The residents said they spend money they do not have on candles, paraffin and gas. Some said cooking a meal has become a daily struggle.
“Before we vote, we first want help,” said Isobel Klein, 56.
Klein said she has lived in the area for 30 years. She said she has tried many times to get help, including by sending emails to councillors.
“I have sent emails to the councillors, but it seems every route I take to get assistance falls on deaf ears,” she said.
She said her household lives on a SASSA grant. “School clothes need to be washed and ironed; food needs to be made. Yet, we remain in the dark. It’s not right,” Klein said.
Klein said she pays her rates but still cannot get assistance. She said she believes things will change if the area gets a new councillor.
An 86-year-old resident, who asked not to be named, said she now cooks her food on a fire. She said she had expected to live comfortably in her old age.
“I sit in the dark, and when I ask people for assistance, they have such bad attitudes, like we did this to ourselves,” she said.
Hendalene Bosch, 62, said her electricity problems began six years ago. She said the wires to her house were cut, and illegal cables now run across her property.
“If the wires burn, my house will go up in flames. We have tried everything to get help, but no one listens,” Bosch said.
Bosch said she takes chronic medication and struggles to make meals. “I have to eat dry bread so I can take my medication,” she said.
Neil Engelbrecht, a representative of the People’s Movement for Change, said years of promises without real change have hurt support for voting.
“The support is dropping because of service delivery and empty promises,” he said.
Engelbrecht claimed that illegal connections from a nearby informal settlement are cutting power to Ivoorhout Street. He said people had even tapped into the substation, and nine more roads were without electricity.
IOL reported that these claims do not prove the technical cause or size of the outages. The City of Cape Town has previously said Delft is supplied by Eskom, while the city looks after municipal streetlights.
“People are not interested in voting simply because of the promises they are fed,” Engelbrecht said. He promised to fight for the community until the end.
The residents did not all share one view on voting. Bosch said she would vote for Engelbrecht because he was the only person trying to help them.
For Klein, getting the power back on comes first. South Africans vote in the local government elections on 4 November.
Source: this article is based on reporting by IOL. Image: IOL. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice News desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Kgomotso Maake covers news and politics for Tzaneen Voice. Kgomotso reports on government, Parliament, municipalities, courts, crime and service delivery across South Africa, with a close eye on how national decisions reach towns like Tzaneen and the wider Limpopo province. Stories are written in plain English and focus on the facts: who made the decision, what it means, and what happens next.