POWER TO THE PEOPLE: South Africans find voice in data centre dialogue, demand more transparency

Cape Town is fast becoming the frontline of the fight for transparency in the wheeling and dealing behind the data centre buildout.

On Saturday, 26 September 2026, civil society alliances including the Housing Assembly and Foxglove hosted a dialogue at the Cathedral Church of St George in the city centre that brought together academics, legal experts, community leaders and residents from surrounding areas such as Montana, Belhar and Manenberg.

Daily Maverick unfortunately couldn’t attend, but in the week leading up to the event, it did manage to get Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Solly Malatsi’s views in an interview at GovTech 2026.

“I don’t believe Cape Town did anything wrong,” the minister said, rejecting the premise that the municipality acted improperly with the initial approval.

“I think we’re dealing with the emergence of a new industry, right? Which means that it is important that our policy and regulatory framework also adapts to the emergence of these new industries.”

He believes that the City of Cape Town did the reasonable thing when concerns were raised, by going back and making the regulatory framework fit for purpose.

A whole new world

That said, Malatsi is calling for cool-headed discussions on the path to what he calls a new era for the country.

“We live in the era where we can’t prevent the reality that the emergence of data centres is going to increase, and I think everyone wants to have a balanced regulatory framework that allows for investments into data centres that is also cognisant of all of these other concerns that are emerging from an environmental perspective, and how we balance those.”

The minister, however, warned against knee-jerk regulatory responses driven by vocal advocacy groups, arguing that regulation should enable sector growth rather than restrict opportunity.

“Don’t use regulation to stifle opportunity, use it to enable sectors to grow,” he explained. “Use regulation to be able to safeguard the environment...”

“I just feel that sometimes there are audiences that become too loud and everyone then panics instead of saying, ‘how do we have a sensible conversation about this emerging industry? And how do we also ensure that South Africa positions itself in such a strong way that it becomes a hub for  data centres and digital investments?’ ”

To the minister’s economic point, research estimates presented by Prof Muhammad Amir Anwar from the University of Edinburgh revealed that data centres generate only 0.7 to two jobs per megawatt during construction and 0.1 to 34 operational jobs per megawatt (mostly security, maintenance and technicians).

Once built, hyperscale facilities run lean operations with minimal local employment impact.

No seat at the table

But the main point raised by civil society during the dialogue was a lack of participation in the process. Affected communities (read: Montana, and nearby backyard dwellers) reported zero direct consultation or door-to-door engagement regarding the data centre developments at the airport.

What advertising was done on a municipal website or in subcouncil notices was completely ineffective for reaching affected residents.

The City equated formal compliance (posting an online notice) with actual public participation. Because residents were unaware of the notice, the City claimed “zero objections” and bypassed public engagement entirely.

Another central argument presented in the formal objections was that the City approving rezoning and land use rights before conducting environmental impact assessments, water usage studies or power impact reviews strips the public of leverage.

The City of Cape Town has, of course, acknowledged the need for specific regulatory guidelines for large data centre developments. The represented communities expect this framework to be drafted through transparent, participatory public consultations rather than closed-door administrative updates.

Civil society expects full disclosure of water and electricity allocation agreements between municipalities, Eskom and tech multinationals, ensuring constitutional rights to water, housing and a safe environment take precedence over corporate profit.

South Africa has found a common voice to have those mature conversations that the minister is calling for. Now it’s time for the cities that are trading off the land to come to the table in good faith. DM