KwaZulu-Natal is testing a new housing model in Empangeni that integrates fibre infrastructure during construction, positioning digital connectivity alongside water, roads and electricity as essential infrastructure.
The Fibre Pre-Provisioning Proof of Concept has been launched at the Phase 1A Empangeni IRDP Mega Housing development in uMhlathuze Municipality, where 405 homes are currently under construction.
Rather than returning to communities after houses, roads and other infrastructure have already been completed, the project installs the physical pathways required for fibre while construction is still underway.
The approach, described as the “Pipe and Box” method, does not immediately connect residents to fibre services. Instead, it prepares homes for future high-speed connectivity, potentially reducing the cost and disruption associated with installing infrastructure retrospectively.
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli said the project represented a shift in how connectivity should be considered when new communities are developed.
“Build the pathway today, connect the community tomorrow,” Ntuli said. “While this proof of concept does not itself provide fibre services, it establishes the physical infrastructure that will make future connectivity possible.”
“Just as we plan for roads, for water and for electricity, so too must we plan for connectivity.”
The initiative brings together the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government, KZN Department of Human Settlements, uMhlathuze Local Municipality, Openserve and Huawei.
Government provides settlement planning, strategic oversight and local coordination, while Openserve contributes telecommunications infrastructure and network deployment expertise. Huawei is providing technical advice, programme support and knowledge transfer.
The significance of the project extends beyond the 405 houses being developed in Empangeni. Lessons from the proof of concept are expected to help determine whether fibre-ready infrastructure can eventually be incorporated into housing developments elsewhere in South Africa.
uMhlathuze Mayor Xolani Ngwezi said connectivity was increasingly important to the municipality’s ambition of becoming a smart and inclusive city.
“Today marks an important milestone in our journey as the City of uMhlathuze to become a smart, connected and inclusive city,” Ngwezi said. “A connected city is a competitive city. A connected resident is an empowered resident.”
For the KZN Department of Human Settlements, the project also represents a change in when digital infrastructure enters the housing-development process.
“Just as roads connect people physically, fibre infrastructure connects communities digitally,” said Lindani Khoza, Chief Director at the department.
“Instead of treating connectivity as an afterthought, we are integrating it into the earlier stages of planning and development.”
That thinking is increasingly significant as access to reliable connectivity affects people’s ability to participate in education, employment, entrepreneurship, healthcare and the broader digital economy.
Rendani Musetha, Chief Director: Digital Government at the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, said the project should be viewed within the country’s broader approach to broadband infrastructure.
“Why should we build houses today and only think about connectivity tomorrow?” Musetha asked. “A fibre cable has little meaning on its own. Its value comes from what it enables.”
Openserve Executive for Enterprise and Public Sector Pearl Schrimpton said digital connectivity should increasingly be considered alongside the infrastructure traditionally provided when communities are developed.
“When the government builds a home, a connection to the digital economy should be built in, just like water, just like electricity, just like the road,” Schrimpton said.
She said lessons from the project would be measured and shared with government to help determine whether the model should be expanded.
Huawei South Africa Deputy CEO Charles Cheng went further, arguing that fibre pre-provisioning should eventually become part of national policy, municipal building requirements and housing strategy.
Huawei Solution Manager Li Yanbang said installing fibre infrastructure before or during road construction could also reduce costs and prevent roads from later being damaged to accommodate telecommunications infrastructure.
“We want to find a way that we can get more affordable connectivity to every South African household,” he said.
The Empangeni project will now provide government and industry with practical information about the planning, installation and cost of integrating fibre infrastructure into new housing developments.
If the model proves viable at scale, its most significant contribution may not be the fibre installed in these 405 homes, but a change in how South Africa thinks about the basic infrastructure of a modern community: ensuring that homes are built not only with access to roads, water and electricity in mind, but with a pathway into the digital economy already in place.
