Eskom and the national housing department were adamant last week that low-income housing projects were exempt from the moratorium on electricity application approvals for new developments requiring more than 100 kilovolt-amperes (kVA) of electricity.
Housing minister Lindiwe Sisulu said the government again confirmed that the moratorium had always excluded low-cost housing developments, projects that had already obtained the required electricity certificates and any property developments requiring less than 100kVA.
Andrew Etzinger, Eskom's general manager of resources and investment strategies, also confirmed that this was the official policy.
Sisulu issued this assurance after discussions with minerals and energy minister Buyelwa Sonjica and public enterprises minister Alec Erwin.
She said the power supply challenges could not be allowed to affect housing delivery to South Africa's poor and any lingering doubts on this matter must be laid to rest.
However, Sipho Mashini, the managing executive of Absa DevCo, confirmed last month that its appeal against the rejection of an application for bulk electricity supply to a flagship public-private partnership, mixed-housing development had been unsuccessful. The development, near Kagiso in Mogale City, was going to provide 9,315 residential units.
The Kagiso Azaadville development is a joint initiative between the Mogale City municipality, the Gauteng department of housing and Absa.
The Banking Association of SA said last month that Eskom's electricity supply problems had caused a major crisis for the low-cost housing market and warned that the move could unleash social instability if houses could not be built for this market over the next six years.
Pierre Venter, the association's financial services charter housing initiative co-ordinator, said property development had stopped because of the electricity crisis, while new approvals had been shelved.
In the Eastern Cape, a flagship R600 million low-income housing project in Port Alfred submitted an application to Eskom in February last year, but the project managers were told they must wait until the end of June or July for a response.
Called the Thornhill property development, it is being developed by Absa Devco, the Ndlambe local authority and the Eastern Cape housing department and aims to provide about 5,000 residential units.
Etzinger said he suspected the "apparent contradiction" between the official policy for low-cost housing and these examples stemmed from the definition applied by Eskom.
Eskom defined low-cost housing developments as those for which the government provided a subsidy towards the electricity infrastructure for the poor.
Etzinger advised developers that believed their applications had been wrongly rejected to approach Eskom's general manager responsible for the region where they planned to develop the project. He admitted that the policy was sometimes misinterpreted and it was appropriate for Eskom's general managers to handle appeals.
"It's a very sensitive issue and Eskom is happy to work with project developers and they must not think they have come up against a brick wall."
Etzinger said the criteria to be used by Eskom in prioritising new developments were in the final stages of development. They would be released next month, after approval by the government.
Eskom has not issued any new application approvals since it announced a moratorium, despite continuing to work on the technical evaluation and the infrastructure required for particular projects. - Business Report
This is despite some flagship low-income housing projects undertaken by public-private partnerships being grounded because Eskom has rejected their electricity applications.
Housing minister Lindiwe Sisulu said the government again confirmed that the moratorium had always excluded low-cost housing developments, projects that had already obtained the required electricity certificates and any property developments requiring less than 100kVA.
Andrew Etzinger, Eskom's general manager of resources and investment strategies, also confirmed that this was the official policy.
Sisulu issued this assurance after discussions with minerals and energy minister Buyelwa Sonjica and public enterprises minister Alec Erwin.
She said the power supply challenges could not be allowed to affect housing delivery to South Africa's poor and any lingering doubts on this matter must be laid to rest.
However, Sipho Mashini, the managing executive of Absa DevCo, confirmed last month that its appeal against the rejection of an application for bulk electricity supply to a flagship public-private partnership, mixed-housing development had been unsuccessful. The development, near Kagiso in Mogale City, was going to provide 9,315 residential units.
The Kagiso Azaadville development is a joint initiative between the Mogale City municipality, the Gauteng department of housing and Absa.
The Banking Association of SA said last month that Eskom's electricity supply problems had caused a major crisis for the low-cost housing market and warned that the move could unleash social instability if houses could not be built for this market over the next six years.
Pierre Venter, the association's financial services charter housing initiative co-ordinator, said property development had stopped because of the electricity crisis, while new approvals had been shelved.
In the Eastern Cape, a flagship R600 million low-income housing project in Port Alfred submitted an application to Eskom in February last year, but the project managers were told they must wait until the end of June or July for a response.
Called the Thornhill property development, it is being developed by Absa Devco, the Ndlambe local authority and the Eastern Cape housing department and aims to provide about 5,000 residential units.
Etzinger said he suspected the "apparent contradiction" between the official policy for low-cost housing and these examples stemmed from the definition applied by Eskom.
Eskom defined low-cost housing developments as those for which the government provided a subsidy towards the electricity infrastructure for the poor.
Etzinger advised developers that believed their applications had been wrongly rejected to approach Eskom's general manager responsible for the region where they planned to develop the project. He admitted that the policy was sometimes misinterpreted and it was appropriate for Eskom's general managers to handle appeals.
"It's a very sensitive issue and Eskom is happy to work with project developers and they must not think they have come up against a brick wall."
Etzinger said the criteria to be used by Eskom in prioritising new developments were in the final stages of development. They would be released next month, after approval by the government.
Eskom has not issued any new application approvals since it announced a moratorium, despite continuing to work on the technical evaluation and the infrastructure required for particular projects. - Business Report
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