Civil rights organizations in South Africa are advocating for a halt to the expansion of data centers in the country, urging an investigation into the usage of limited water, land, and electricity resources. This call comes as U.S. technology companies, including Amazon, Microsoft, and Equinix, are increasing their digital infrastructure investments in South Africa, which is positioning itself as a major data hub for Africa.
The South African Human Rights Commission has received over 250 submissions from various groups following a call for input in May. President Cyril Ramaphosa has stated that South Africa hosts 70% of Africa's data center capacity and that the government views this as a significant opportunity within the global digital economy.
However, the rapid growth of data centers, similar to trends observed in the U.S., is leading to increased scrutiny of their long-term environmental and societal impacts. A key concern highlighted by the commission is the lack of transparency regarding electricity and water demand, land use, infrastructure requirements, environmental impacts, and effects on local communities.
One specific development drawing criticism is the municipal approval for an Equinix hyperscale facility in Cape Town, a city that previously faced severe water scarcity and narrowly avoided "Day Zero" in 2018. Concerns have also been raised about the estimated 160 megawatts of electricity required to operate such a facility, especially in light of South Africa's past struggles with widespread power outages, known as "loadshedding."
While the country's power utility, Eskom, has reported a power surplus, civil society groups remain wary of this surplus being allocated to data centers. Experts suggest that the call for a pause in approvals is not a rejection of foreign investment but a mechanism to establish clear regulatory frameworks, particularly concerning transparency. According to Pitso Tsibolane, a senior lecturer in Information Systems at the University of Cape Town, operators are not currently required to disclose their resource consumption, leading to proposals being evaluated without essential data.
Industry representatives, such as the Internet Service Providers Association, argue that data centers in South Africa utilize new technologies to minimize water usage, which they claim is substantially lower than the global average. They also contend that the energy demand from data centers is not contributing to electricity scarcity or rising tariffs, noting that Eskom has a power surplus and that many data centers are increasingly relying on renewable energy sources.