Press release: US data centre gets approval in South Africa despite unknown impact on water and power
The Municipal Planning Tribunal (MPT) in Cape Town has approved the application of a US Big Tech company to start developing a hyperscale data centre, despite a lack of information on its impact on nearby communities’ water and electricity supplies.
The social movement Housing Assembly protested outside Cape Town’s Civic Centre against the proposal as it was considered – in what appears to be one of the first protests against the harmful impact of new, hyperscale data centres in South Africa.
Housing Assembly and tech justice non-profit Foxglove, represented by the Legal Resources Centre (LRC), made objections to Equinix’s planned 174 MVA facility during the tribunal hearing.
These focused around the failure of Equinix to provide information about the impact of the data centre, and the harm it would cause to surrounding communities through significant resource use in an area where many already suffer from lack of access to electricity and water. Kimal Harvey of the LRC told the tribunal that “the Applicant has provided no evidence to support its claim that safety, health or wellbeing of the surrounding community will not be affected.” Instead, they said, “the Applicant has only made unsupported assurances that no impact will arise and they expect this body to accept this on blind faith.”
Housing Assembly and Foxglove argued that the application should be rejected. The MPT have, with the exception of one member who objected, approved the application that will pave the way for Equinix to start developing a hyperscale data centre in the King Air Industria precinct.
The only objecting member of the MPT, Wally Johnstone, Lead Urban Planner at Macroplan, highlighted recent community protests in Cape Town around access to electricity, and warned that the objection “should not be ignored.” Pointing to expected greenhouse gas emissions from the data centre’s significant electricity use, in a context of the growing visible impact of climate change, he argued that “the request to approach this and other applications like this with care is therefore a reasonable one.”
Johnstone criticised “the lack of information on water usage provided by the applicant,” pointing out that Equinix’s representatives “merely stated that this will be confirmed at the site development plan stage.”
On electricity usage, Johnstone pointed out that “Capetonians and South Africans as a whole have experienced load shedding and regular outages for an extended period of time, and the public has a right to know how this approval will affect grid stability and access to electricity. It goes without saying that those who are unable to afford alternative sources of energy installations are the most affected in situations of grid instability”.
Despite these warnings, the majority of the tribunal approved the developer’s proposal. Housing Assembly and Foxglove are disappointed by the outcome and are reviewing this decision with their lawyers, LRC, and taking advice on their next legal steps.
Kenneth Matlawe, an organiser at Housing Assembly said: “Our concern is with mega data centres that may use vast amounts of water and electricity, while nearby communities still struggle to access basic services.”
Sherylle Dass of LRC said: “The Municipal Planning Tribunal, bar one, failed the people of Cape Town today by prioritising business interests over the people. They have a constitutional imperative to consider the wider socio-economic impacts of resource-intensive developments and land-use applications that prioritises foreign-owned Tech Corporations’ commercial interests over the pressing needs of the communities they serve.”
Rosa Curling, co-executive director at Foxglove said: “We have seen this playbook from US Big Tech companies again and again: turn up in a community, tell them as little as possible about the huge harm the data centre will cause, and leave the people living there to pick up the pieces. It is deeply disappointing that so many tribunal members have been taken in by assurances which are not worth the paper they are printed on. The simple fact is that data centres use huge quantities of resources across the globe and there is no evidence to suggest that South Africa will be any different. Unless Big Tech is forced to change their behaviour, the people of Cape Town will be left to pick up the tab for the richest companies in the world. We are considering next steps on how we can ensure this does not happen.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
1. A note summarising LRC’s oral objection to the Tribunal is available on request.
2. For interviews with representatives of Housing Assembly, LRC, or Foxglove, or for pictures from today’s protest, please contact press[AT]foxglove.org.uk