Cape Town: The Energy Directorate shines bright at the Annual Engineering, Project and Contract Management (EPCM) Excellence Awards of the City of Cape Town. The Imizamo Yethu Electrification project has been honoured with the Project of the Year for 2025 under the Project Excellence Category.
Reportedly, a devastating fire destroyed a large number of homes in the Imizamo Yethu with informal settlement in Hout Bay, the Energy Directorate of the City of Cape Town launched a targeted electrification initiative to help in restoring the access to electricity services to the affected community.
The multi-year project was led by the Electrification Programme Management (EPM) Unit in collaboration with the Informal Settlement Management Department and other internal partners. It was completed, despite of the complex site conditions with the help of widespread community support.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Energy – Alderman Xanthea Limberg said that they are enormously proud of this acheivement as it serves as a benchmark for future electrification projects across the metro.
City of Cape Town has invested over R25 million for this award-winning Imizamo Yethu project, safely and legally connecting 1,150 homes to the electricity grid. This demonstrates that the service delivery is about expanding and maintaining the electricity infrastructure and about restoring dignity and building safer communities.
According to Limberg, this recognition belongs to every team member in Energy and Human Settlements and other supporting line departments whose effort and commitment made the success of this project possible.
The city teams working in informal settlements face extremely challenging and often heartbreaking conditions, but they are all incredibly dedicated to the most vulnerable residents. City’s work to deliver improved services to all communities remains a key motivation and this award underscores the shared goal for a better Cape Town.
They thanked all project members and partners for their hard work and dedication as they look forward to many more successful projects in the communities.
Considering this, the project leader for the Imizamo Yethu electrification project – Maurisha Hammer said that they are truly inspired by what the project achieved.
This project stands as a testament to the teamwork of everyone involved and to make meaningful change in the communities. The award recognises exceptional execution, innovation, and measurable impact in project delivery.
The judging process was based on the International Project Management Association (IPMA) Project Excellence model, which evaluates people and purpose, processes and resources, project results and lessons learnt.
As part of this recognition, the electrification project will represent the City and the Energy Directorate, by participating at the next IPMA South African awards and with the intention of further participating in the next IPMA Global awards.