Cape Town municipal authorities have given the green light to a massive new data centre proposal from US-listed Equinix. The decision allows the company to build two facilities in the King Air Industria area, a move that has drawn sharp criticism from local activists concerned about the project’s environmental footprint.
The proposed facilities are expected to require about 170MW of power capacity. Such a figure places the development among the largest proposals currently on the table in South Africa.
Teraco, which claims the title as Africa’s largest data centre operator, has stated publicly that it has a vast amount of critical power capacity spread across campuses. The gap illustrates the aggressive expansion happening within the sector as regional demand for cloud services continues to climb.
Housing Assembly, a South African grassroots movement, and the UK-based advocacy group Foxglove teamed up to fight the plan. Legal Resources Centre represented these groups during tribunal hearings. They argued that insufficient information had been disclosed about the proposal’s environmental footprint, specifically regarding water use and electricity demand. In a water-scarce region like the Western Cape, these concerns carry significant weight for local residents who rely on municipal supplies for daily life.
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The approval process for large-scale industrial projects often moves through municipal channels faster than community groups can mobilize to understand the full resource implications. Historically, there is a disconnect in how infrastructure development is communicated to the public during the initial planning stages.
By the time environmental impact assessments are fully vetted or resource requirements are clearly defined, the physical footprint of a project may already be established.
Forcing residents to contend with outcomes that were not fully anticipated.
Rosa Curling, co-executive director at Foxglove, condemned the approach. She described a recurring pattern where US big tech companies arrive in communities with limited disclosure on the harm they might cause.
“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 facilities will cause, and leave the people living there to pick up the pieces,” Curling said.
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The groups said they were currently assessing a potential appeal of the decision.
An Equinix spokesman confirmed the company has purchased land in Cape Town but has not yet submitted a site development plan. Under South Africa’s planning system, this document sets out how an approved project will be laid out and operated.
Should the company decide to move forward, it has pledged to be fully transparent.
“Should we decide to proceed with any development, we are committed to being fully transparent and will provide detailed information to all relevant stakeholders in a timely manner,” the spokesman stated. Sharon Kimathi added that the firm understands its role in the communities where it operates and engages with local utilities and government leaders early in the process to listen and understand local priorities.
