South African civil rights organisations and the South African Human Rights Commission have called for a temporary halt to the construction of new data centres until the country’s use of scarce water, land and electricity resources by such facilities is properly investigated and made transparent.
Why the pause is being sought
The commission said it launched a call for input in May and has since received more than 250 submissions from interested parties. Its preliminary review points to a rapid expansion of data-centre capacity, cloud infrastructure and associated systems in South Africa, but limited accessible information about the projects.
“A key issue emerging from the process is precisely the availability, consistency and transparency of information relating to matters such as electricity and water demand, land use, infrastructure requirements, environmental impacts and impacts on surrounding communities,” said Eileen Carter, who leads the commission’s preliminary process.
Government figures cited by President Cyril Ramaphosa indicate that South Africa currently hosts about 70% of Africa’s data-centre capacity. The state has actively courted investment from global technology firms and sees an opportunity to position the country as a digital hub for the continent.
Local concerns: water and power
Civil society groups point to recent national experiences that highlight the risks of rapid digital infrastructure growth without full public scrutiny. Cape Town, for example, narrowly avoided a severe water supply crisis in 2018, and communities remember the prolonged national supply disruptions known as load-shedding.
Those concerns have been sharpened by approvals for large hyperscale facilities. One such project by Equinix in Cape Town was singled out because it is estimated to require about 160MW of electricity to operate — a demand figure that has prompted questions about how local networks and water systems will cope.
What civil society wants
The groups and the commission are seeking:
- full disclosure of projected electricity and water consumption for proposed data-centre projects;
- assessments of land-use impacts and environmental consequences;
- clear reporting on how new infrastructure will affect surrounding communities and municipal services.
They argue that, without consistent information, it is impossible for regulators, municipalities and residents to weigh the benefits of investment against possible strain on public resources.
| Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| Submissions received by commission | 250+ |
| Share of Africa’s data-centre capacity in SA | 70% |
| Estimated electricity need for a Cape Town hyperscale facility | 160MW |
Implications for citizens and policy
For ordinary South Africans — particularly those on tight budgets or served by stressed municipal infrastructure — the issue is practical. Data centres consume large volumes of power and water; how those demands are supplied affects the reliability and cost of services that households and businesses depend on.
On the policy side, the call for a moratorium reflects a wider debate about balancing economic opportunities from foreign investment with environmental stewardship and local accountability. The government’s push to attract cloud and hyperscale operators is aimed at securing jobs and positioning South Africa in the global digital economy. But the rapid growth of such projects elsewhere has prompted scrutiny over longer-term social and ecological costs.
The commission’s process does not yet prescribe policy outcomes. What it has emphasised is that decisions about further expansion should be informed by consistent, publicly available evidence on resource use and community impact — information that civil society says is currently patchy.
As global technology companies expand their footprints here, the debate in South Africa will be whether to prioritise rapid infrastructure growth or to first establish clearer, enforceable standards for resource use and community protection.
