By Buziwe Nocuze
- Siphokazi Ntame from Cape Town has had no electricity since 10 May after her illegal power grid connection broke down.
- The family cannot report the electricity outage to Eskom or their ward councillor because they connected to the grid illegally.
A Cape Town woman is facing a dark winter and heavy costs after an illegal electricity connection broke down.
Siphokazi Ntame has had no power in her Ramaphosa informal settlement home since 10 May 2026.
The 49 year old woman lives with three family members in the settlement, where she has stayed since 2018. She cannot call Eskom or ask her ward councillor for help because the connection was illegal.
“We cannot call Eskom or complain about not having electricity because we connected illegally,” Ntame said.
“We are now facing the consequences of staying in a dark place buying paraffin.”
Ntame is forced to spend R190 every week on paraffin to cook and heat water in winter. A litre of paraffin costs her R38, and she buys five litres a week.
She did not budget for this cost. She hoped the problem would be fixed quietly. Last month the connection failed but returned after two weeks. This time it has not come back.
The paraffin stove brings health problems. The smoke gives the family headaches, so they light and turn it off outside to keep fumes out of the house.
Without a fridge, Ntame only buys food she can cook the same day. She buys a R40 packet of chicken chunks. Her children charge their phones at a friend’s home in another area so they can study.
She has borrowed money to cover the paraffin costs. She does not know when the electricity will return.
“I don’t know when we are going to get back electricity and we cannot even protest because we connected illegally,” she said.
Ward councillor Lindikhaya Payiya said he is working to get electricity installed legally in the Ramaphosa area.
Pictured above: Cape Town family faces a dark home after an illegal electricity connection failed in Ramaphosa.
Image source: Supplied
