Room at clinic torched after electric wires confiscated in Khayelitsha
Town Two Clinic will be closed until Thursday
A storage room at Town Two clinic was set alight on Monday night. Photo: Vincent Lali
Residents of Marikana informal settlement set fire to a storage room at Town Two Clinic, Khayelitsha, on Monday night after police stopped them from making illegal electricity connections.
The clinic was closed on Tuesday. “Nurses and clerks have been asked to work at other clinics today. They are scared to work here,’’ a security guard told GroundUp.
Noxolo Nzobongwana, one of the informal settlement residents, told GroundUp that they were busy connecting to an Eskom transformer near the clinic on Monday night when they were stopped by police and their cables were confiscated.
Nzobongwana said the cables were expensive, and residents wanted them to be returned.
The community had previously been illegally connected to another transformer, which broke down after being overloaded.
Western Cape police spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi said the police are investigating a case of arson.
The City of Cape Town’s Health Department said the protesters “damaged the motorised vehicle gate to get onto the property and damaged the Eskom transformer on the premises, leaving the clinic without electricity.’’
“City Health is working to restore some services by Thursday, 25 September. In the interim, clients are requested to please use the Matthew Goniwe CDC or Mayenzeke Clinic.”
“This incident must be condemned – there is no justification for damaging community assets in this manner.’’
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Letters
Dear Editor
The recent torching of a storage room at Town Two Clinic in Khayelitsha is deeply troubling – not only because it disrupted vital health services, but because it reflects a deeper, unresolved tension between survival and legality.
As someone who understands the daily struggles of informal settlement residents, I empathise with the frustration that led to this act. Electricity is not a luxury – it’s a lifeline. When people resort to illegal connections, it’s often not out of defiance but desperation. The confiscation of expensive cables, without offering alternatives, understandably provokes anger. But setting fire to a clinic – a place that serves the very community in need – is a tragic misstep.
We must condemn illegal connections not to punish, but to protect. They endanger lives, damage infrastructure, and now, have left a critical clinic without power. Yet condemnation alone is not enough.
I urge the City of Cape Town and Eskom to meet residents halfway. Consider:
- Community-led electrification forums to co-design safe, legal access to power.
- Subsidized connection programmes for informal settlements.
- Mobile energy units or solar hubs as interim solutions.
- Transparent communication about timelines and options when transformers fail.
Let us not allow this incident to deepen mistrust. Instead, let it be a turning point – where empathy meets accountability, and where solutions are built with, not just for, the people.
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