‘Candles are not bright enough’

Abstract

The gangsters can rob us because there is no electricity and no one can see them coming. (SEA, 2016) There is not sufficient light for our children to study at night-candles are not bright enough. (SEA, 2016) These statements were made by people living in shacks in informal settlements in Cape Town, South Africa. These settlements are not serviced by the city authorities, with limited, unaffordable or in some cases no access to electricity or running water in each shack. A few shared toilets were provided, located a short distance away. Although the city authorities were seeking to rehouse some of these communities, the ever-present insecurity of potential relocation to new formal accommodation on the outskirts of the city, far from economic opportunities and serviced infrastructure (SEA, 2010), created a very precarious day-today existence. Amid this context of marked and enduring socio-spatial and environmental-economic inequalities (explored more fully in the next section), there have been calls for a national transition away from carbonintensive and inefficient energy practices. This call is due, in part, to the broader global policy-making context of concern about the impact of climate change, as well as worldwide development trends, such as those enshrined in the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the New