Activists challenge 160MW Cape Town data centre project

A plan by US-listed Equinix to build two data centres in Cape Town should not be approved without full disclosure of its water, power and environmental impact, a formal objection lodged with city planners shows.

The Housing Assembly (HA), a social movement representing more than 20 communities in the Western Cape of South Africa, and UK non-profit Foxglove say the application cannot be approved without the key information needed for officials to assess the project.

As technology firms race to scale up computing power across the globe, they face local opposition from communities worried about issues such as rising power bills, water stress, noise and pollution.

“There is simply not enough information for a decision on a project of this scale, with no substantive detail on water use, emissions, electricity demand, diesel generators, air pollution, noise or even the buildings themselves,” said Rosa Curling, co-executive director at Foxglove.

The project includes two large data centres in Cape Town with a combined projected power usage of up to 160MW, according to the document. Questions remain on issues such as what sort of backup power generation the site will have.

The water demands of the site are also particularly important given Cape Town’s historic problems with water scarcity, Curling said.

Drought

Cape Town suffered from a severe drought in 2017 and 2018, the “Day Zero” crisis when the city shut off most household taps because its water reservoirs had fallen dangerously low.

“There seems to be this rush to develop data centres without people properly thinking through what the impact will be,” added Saadiyah Kwada, an attorney at the non-profit, Legal Resources Centre, in Cape Town.

Read: Data centre operator Equinix doubles down on South Africa

Equinix, which already operates a site in Johannesburg with 100% renewable energy coverage, according to its website, declined to comment on the objection lodged by the HA and Foxglove.

King David Golf Club, the owner of King Air Industrial, the development site on which the data centres are due to be built, and Equinix have 30 days to offer a response, after which the city has 180 days to make a decision.

Eddie Andrews, the city’s deputy mayor and mayoral committee member for spatial planning & environment said: “The City of Cape Town still needs to evaluate the application together with all comments and objections received from internal and external departments and interested and affected parties. The city cannot comment any further as this application is still being processed.”

KAI declined to comment.

South Africa’s government on Wednesday pledged to boost investment in digital infrastructure, including data centres, through tax incentives and policy reforms aimed at expanding connectivity while addressing regulatory barriers.  — Simon Jessop and Kirsten Donovan, (c) 2026 Reuters