GOOD Statement by Jonathan Cupido, GOOD City of Cape Town Councillor:
Cape Town cannot continue to celebrate itself as “the best-run city” while denying thousands of our own backyard families the most basic and lawful service, electricity that is safe, individually metered, and compliant with our own policies.
For too long, backyard dwellers living on City-owned rental properties have been trapped in a legal and administrative vacuum. These are not illegal occupants. Many are children of original tenants. Many are breadwinners, pensioners, domestic workers, EPWP staff, and even City employees. Yet they are forced to rely on dangerous extension cords and overloaded plug points, all because the City of Cape Town has failed to formally recognise a lawful and humane solution.
Yesterday, I tabled a new motion on a Policy and Standard Operating Procedure that closes this gap. It gives backyard residents the dignity of their own prepaid meters, their own accounts, and safe, lawful access to electricity, fully aligned with the Electricity Supply By-law, the Municipal Systems Act, the Constitution, and the City’s Energy Transition Strategy.
This is not about gifting services. It is about the lawful recognition of people who already live on City land safely, responsibly, and with dignity. The policy ensures no burden on main tenants, prevents illegal connections, and protects the City’s infrastructure, finances, and legal compliance.
Importantly, this proposal requires that connections be applied for by the City itself, as the legal property owner, exactly as the By-Law and Reticulation Policy already require. Backyarders cannot apply, because they are not authorised owners. That’s why this motion is necessary to empower the City of Cape Town to do what the law already expects it to do.
This is not a political favour. This is not an attack on any administration. This is a constitutional duty. It protects the City, residents, and lives, and prevents catastrophic liabilities from dangerous illegal connections, fires, child safety hazards, and preventable tragedies.
Whether you sit on the left, the right, or comfortably in the middle, this is not a party issue. It’s a people issue. It’s a City of Cape Town reputation issue. And it’s a compliance and safety issue.
We are calling on Council, on all parties, and on every rational public servant to support this motion.
Let us bring light, lawfully, safely, and sustainably. Let us protect residents with solutions, not excuses. Let us treat backyard dwellers not as an inconvenience, but as human beings living under our care and authority. Dignity is not a luxury. It is a constitutional right, and today, we choose dignity.
GOOD Education: The party emphasizes the need for quality education and skills development.
Sw00Sh
I was pretty surprised to learn Elon Musk was born in South Africa
I thought he was born in Mad-at-gas-car
Dark Burn
Van is getting married, but he and his fiancee have never done the deed – in fact he\’s never been with any woman before. He\’s getting more and more nervous as the big day approaches, so he confides in his friend. His friend says \’No worries man. I\’ll come by the honeymoon suite before you guys get there, and I\’ll hide behind the curtain, and I\’ll whisper instructions to you.\’
\’You\’d do that for me?\’
\’Sure thing man!\’
So the wedding day arrives, it was a lovely service (so I was told, I wasn\’t there myself) and Van\’s friend sneaks into the honeymoon suite as promised and hides behind the curtain.
Van and his new wife arrive in the room, get settled on the bed, and things are getting steamy.
But Van is still super nervous and his tummy is bubbling, so he murmers to his wife, \’Listen babe, I\’m just gonna go to the bathroom quick. I think it\’s that wors roll from earlier.\’
\’Sure thing babe.\’
So Van goes into the bathroom, and he\’s taking quite a long time. And his wife is starting to feel the nerves herself. And it\’s getting worse. She can\’t hold it in. But she doesn\’t want to go after he\’s gone and totally ruin the mood. So she looks around and finally finds a shoebox. Quickly, she does her business in the shoebox, and she shoves it under the bed just as Van comes back from the loo.
Van gets back on the bed and they go at it again. But after a minute or so Van smells something not so lekker.
\’What\’s that smell?\’
\’Nothing babe,\’ he wife tries to assure him.
\’No man there\’s definitely something not so lekker in this room!\’VSo Van starts looking around the room, in the corners, in the cupboard, and finally he looks under the bed, and sees the shoebox.
He pull it out, and opens it up, and in horror he shouts \’Sies! Daar\’s kak in hierdie doos!\’
And from behind the curtain his friend yells, \’NEE MAN, DRAAI HAAR OM!\”