<\/p>\n
Civil society activists have lodged a formal appeal against a land use approval that will allow US technology company Equinix to build a hyperscale data centre at King Air Industria in Cape Town.<\/p>\n
The application for rezoning, subdivision, consolidation and amendment of conditions, which paves the way for one, possibly two, data centres, was approved by the Municipal Planning Tribunal on 14 July.<\/p>\n
Read:
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The Housing Assembly and technology justice organisation Foxglove, represented by the Legal Resources Centre, say the application should have been rejected because of inadequate information about the data centre\u2019s impact on surrounding communities, in particular on electricity and water resources.<\/p>\n
The activists say the tribunal had wrongly treated the matter as a simple rezoning application.<\/p>\n
The tribunal\u2019s decision created a new \u201cdata centre\u201d category of land use.<\/p>\n
Equinix says it operates more than 280 data centres in 36 countries.<\/p>\n
The objectors say there were \u201ccritical information gaps\u201d in the application and should the appeal succeed, any fresh application must be decided on complete information with meaningful engagement with communities.<\/p>\n
In their appeal, they say the issue goes far beyond the tribunal\u2019s approval of the application, and speaks to the City of Cape Town persistently failing to meet its constitutional imperatives to protect, promote and advance the rights of its residents to environmental protection, protection of property rights, adequate housing, and sufficient food and water.<\/p>\n
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They claim the development of a resource-intensive data centre is incompatible with protecting residents\u2019 constitutional rights.<\/p>\n
One reason the tribunal cited for approval was \u201cpositive economic impact\u201d through job creation and support of \u201cdownstream industries\u201d.<\/p>\n
But the activists say there was no report to back this up, and the tribunal failed to consider the competing interests of communities, who were never consulted.<\/p>\n
They say the application did not deal with issues of water, emissions, electricity, air pollution, noise and did not include plans for the buildings.<\/p>\n
They submit that the proposed 174 megavolt-ampere facility would be built adjacent to Barcelona informal settlement, Bishop Lavis, Gugulethu and KTC.<\/p>\n
These are areas \u201cwhere many residents still struggle for reliable access to water and electricity, in a city that came within weeks of \u2018Day Zero\u2019 in 2018\u201d.<\/p>\n
They note they only obtained Equinix\u2019s response to their objection through an access to information request, days before the hearing.<\/p>\n
In a media statement on Monday, they said the appeal comes after the same organisations, together with Open Secrets, Research + Action and Planetary AI Collective, issued a joint report to the South African Human Rights Commission calling for national rules for the data centre sector, including mandatory disclosure of every data centre\u2019s water and electricity use.<\/p>\n
The Housing Assembly\u2019s Kashiefa Achmat said: \u201cOur members know what it is to queue for water, to go without electricity and to wait decades for decent housing.<\/p>\n
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\u201cNow a massive data centre is trying to jump the queue and take our land, water and energy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are appealing because our communities have the right to make the decisions that will affect what comes out of our taps and our grid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Foxglove co-executive director Rosa Curling said no new data centres should be built in Cape Town unless and until the city had the full facts of the ultimate impact on the environment and critical resources.<\/p>\n
Equinix<\/p>\n
Equinix can make submissions in the appeal process.<\/p>\n
GroundUp has struggled to reach Equinix for comment. Comment will be added when received.<\/p>\n
However, the company is on record as saying it had bought the land in Cape Town but had not yet submitted a site development plan. It said that when it does submit a plan, it will be fully transparent and engage with stakeholders.<\/p>\n
Deputy Mayor Eddie Andrews, who is mayco member for spatial planning and environment, said: \u201cThe matter is currently subject to an appeal process. The city is therefore unable to comment on the merits of the appeal or pre-empt the decision of the Planning Appeals Authority.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a9 2026 GroundUp. This article was first published here.<\/p>\n
#Activists #appeal #City #Cape #Town #data #centre #approval<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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