Intervention Brief

The Alternative Service Delivery Unit (ASDU), implemented by GreenCape, is seeking technical partners to provide sustainable off-grid energy services for approximately 300 homes in the Nomzamo Agricultural Village. The project, starting in February 2024, follows a year of social mobilisation and data collection to identify the community's specific energy needs and financial capacity.

• Nomzamo Agricultural Village is a settlement established around 2017 in Ermelo, Mpumalanga, consisting of 681 households and 2,097 people (including 958 children). The community lacks formal municipal services for electricity, water, sanitation, and waste management, with an unemployment rate near 56% and 89% of households earning less than R3,500 per month.
• Residents currently rely on expensive and inefficient energy sources, spending an average of R1,100 per month on cooking fuel (wood and coal) and R300 on lighting (primarily candles). The lack of refrigeration increases food costs as residents cannot buy perishables in bulk, and the absence of charging infrastructure forces residents to pay fees at shops or spend R50 to R200 monthly on data and airtime.
• Through a co-design process, the community identified three primary energy needs: home-level solutions for cost-effective cooking fuel, home-level electricity for lighting and small appliances, and refrigeration at either the home or community level (such as for a community butchery). Secondary priorities include public area lighting for safety, skills and job development, and internet connectivity.
• The community expresses a willingness to pay up to R350 per month for safe and reliable services, with a strong preference for 'pay as you go' models rather than fixed monthly costs. The most valued appliances for power are fridges, televisions, lights, and cellphone chargers.

APA

GreenCape (n.d.). Intervention Brief. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/ASDU-Nomzamo-Intervention-brief.pdf

Chicago

GreenCape. Intervention Brief. n.d. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/ASDU-Nomzamo-Intervention-brief.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=GreenCape |title=Intervention Brief |url=https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/ASDU-Nomzamo-Intervention-brief.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greencapendintervention, author = {{GreenCape}}, title = {{Intervention Brief}}, institution = {GreenCape}, url = {https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/ASDU-Nomzamo-Intervention-brief.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }