Wellington Residents March for Electricity and Fair Billing in New Rest Settlement

Residents from the New Rest informal settlement held a peaceful march on Wednesday, 13 August 2025, to demand electricity for informal settlements and fair billing from the Municipality.

The march began in Carterville, Wellington, and moved to the Drakenstein Civic Centre in Paarl, where protesters handed over a memorandum to Municipal Officials. They asked for electricity to be connected to informal settlements like New Rest and requested a written response within seven days.

For the community, electricity is not just about convenience; it’s about safety and survival. Many families have lost everything in shack fires caused by candles and paraffin stoves. “Some of them have lost all their possessions in fires and have to start over every time,” said Basil Boesman. 

Boesman also said residents feel treated unfairly. “When the farmers evict people from the farms and their only hope is to move into settlements like New Rest, then the new people coming in get priority over people who have lived there for years when it comes to electricity”, he claimed, adding that residents have raised the issue with the Municipal Management Committee several times without success.

During the protest, organisers explained that residents are frustrated with the billing system and want electricity in all informal settlements in Drakenstein. The memorandum highlighted that the committee has engaged the Municipality for months through meetings, letters and emails, but received little action. Some areas, such as Phalaphala, have been prioritised over long-standing communities in Wellington and Mbekweni.

Speaking on a Facebook live video, a community speaker said, “The right to freedom is not only a human right in the constitution, but its absence affects other basic rights such as security and freedom. We have followed all legal protocols, written letters, and marched peacefully, yet nothing has changed. We are determined to stop the continued neglect of informal settlements and unfair electricity billing.”

In response to National Citizen, Japie Cornelissen, Manager of Traffic and Licensing Services at Drakenstein Municipality, confirmed that the protest was legal and well-organised. He said the Municipality met with the South African Police Service and the organisers before giving permission. “The peaceful march was held as scheduled and concluded at the Civic Centre in Paarl earlier today, with the protesters handing their memorandum to a senior municipal official,” Cornelissen said. He thanked the community for their peaceful behaviour and noted that no incidents were reported.

The municipality has not yet said how it will respond to the residents’ demands. In the past, it has said it values talking with communities and aims to address service delivery concerns as quickly as possible.

For the people of New Rest, the message is simple: after 30 years without electricity, the time for waiting is over.