Key Takeaways
- More than 1,200 active power outages have been recorded since 1 July, plunging many Johannesburg suburbs into darkness for weeks.
- Residents allege that individuals or groups deliberately cut cables or steal substation components, then demand cash payments (R3,000–R7,000) to restore electricity.
- Video footage from Kensington shows a suspect removing a live conductor from a pole and later offering to reconnect the supply for a fee.
- Councillors describe a dual system: official City Power repair crews working by day and informal contractors who only operate after receiving bribes.
- Wards 66, 118 and 117 reveal widespread theft of breakers, cables and cabling, with repairs often failing within days.
- Alexandra residents face extra “normalisation” charges after prolonged blackouts, heightening community frustration.
- Unresolved fault calls peaked at 8,413 on 6 July; the Inner City, Roodepoort and Lenasia service‑delivery centres carry the highest burden.
- City Power attributes the crisis to ageing infrastructure, theft, vandalism and over‑loading, denying any organised sabotage or illicit payment schemes.
Overview of the Crisis and Scale of Outages
Since early July Johannesburg has been gripped by a relentless wave of power failures, with more than 1,200 active outages recorded after 1 July. The blackouts have stretched for weeks in many suburbs, shutting down businesses, stranding residents and overwhelming City Power’s repair capacity. Fleet vehicles sit idle at depots while spare‑parts stores sit empty, and the utility’s management appears unable to keep pace with the growing backlog of faults. The crisis has moved beyond mere inconvenience, creating conditions in which criminal groups allegedly exploit the desperation of communities for profit.
Impact on Suburbs, Businesses and Daily Life
Areas as diverse as the northern suburbs of Sandton and Bryanston, the inner‑city neighborhoods of Bez Valley, Kensington and Yeoville, and southern districts such as Naturena, Kibler Park and Devland have all experienced prolonged darkness. Local shops, factories and service providers have been forced to close or operate at reduced capacity, losing revenue and jeopardising jobs. Residents report spoiled food, disrupted schooling and heightened insecurity as streetlights fail. The cumulative effect is a city‑wide erosion of trust in the basic service that underpins economic and social life.
Emergence of Cash‑for‑Power Rackets and Alleged Sabotage
Amid the widespread outages, residents have begun reporting a disturbing trend: individuals or groups deliberately cutting power lines or removing components from substations, then approaching affected households with offers to restore electricity for a cash payment. In Kensington, video footage shows a person detaching a cable from a pole on Leicester Road and later demanding R3,000 to reconnect the supply. Similar accounts describe cash demands ranging from a few thousand rand to as high as R7,000 for alleged “spare parts,” suggesting a coordinated racket that profits from the utility’s inability to respond.
Evidence from Kensington Footage and Resident Testimonies
Daily Maverick obtained video supplied by Kensington residents that appears to capture a suspect removing a live conductor from an electricity pole. The same individual is alleged to have later visited nearby homes, offering to fix the fault for a fee. Residents interviewed by the newspaper say the pattern repeats: after a sudden outage, a stranger appears with tools, claims to have the necessary parts, and insists on payment before any work begins. The footage and testimonies have fueled suspicions of an organized syndicate operating under the guise of informal repairers.
City‑wide Patterns of Deliberate Damage and Component Theft
Beyond isolated incidents, councillors and community leaders describe a systemic practice in which breakers, cables and other critical hardware are stripped from functioning substations and redistributed to areas where payments have been made. In Malvern, a locked City Power box on Jules Street was found with its internal cables severed and breakers missing, despite the external padlock remaining intact—indicating that only those with official keys could have accessed the interior. Similar reports of voltage spikes, repeated breaker failures and temporary fixes that fail within two days suggest a cycle of sabotage followed by illicit repair‑for‑cash schemes.
Ward 66 – Bez Valley, Kensington and Yeoville
Ward 66 councillor Carlos da Rocha told Daily Maverick that residents in Bez Valley and Kensington have endured outages lasting up to three weeks, with repairs often failing within days. He accused City Power of issuing vague restoration timetables merely to pacify the public, while a parallel night‑time network of contractors allegedly demands cash before performing any work. Da Rocha warned that the prolonged blackouts have created fertile ground for corruption, eroding confidence in the utility and leaving communities to fend for themselves in darkness.
Ward 118 – Malvern, Cyrildene, Observatory and Dewetshof
Councillor Neuren Pietersen reported that wards 118’s suburbs have suffered blackouts ranging from several days to more than twenty days, accompanied by dangerous voltage spikes exceeding 300 volts and repeated breaker failures. He faulted the centralised fault‑reporting system at the Reuven depot for misassigning tickets, leaving trucks idle and stores empty of spare parts. Pietersen described how working substations are being stripped of components to supply other areas, while cables are deliberately cut before residents are approached with cash‑for‑repair offers, perpetuating a vicious cycle of failure and extortion.
Ward 117 – Parkwood, Saxonwold and Rosebank
In Ward 117, councillor Tim Truluck accused City Power of lacking the financial resources to procure essential cabling, resulting in a blackout that persisted for more than six weeks in Parkwood, Saxonwold and Rosebank. The utility admitted it did not have the necessary conductors to complete repairs, forcing residents to rely on informal, often costly, alternatives. Truluck argued that the shortage of spares is not a technical oversight but a symptom of deeper fiscal and logistical mismanagement that leaves entire neighborhoods without power for extended periods.
Alexandra – Normalisation Charges and Community Frustration
Residents of Alexandra have faced outages lasting more than two weeks, after which City Power reportedly demanded additional “normalisation” charges before reconnecting supply. Thabo Mokoena, a local resident, questioned the legitimacy of asking for money when the utility cannot maintain basic service. The dispute highlights a growing perception that City Power is attempting to shift the cost of its failures onto consumers, further aggravating tensions in a community already strained by darkness, frequent outages and limited economic opportunities.
Data on Unresolved Fault Calls and Major Outages by Service Delivery Centre
Daily Maverick’s tracking of City Power’s publicly reported unresolved calls showed a surge from 1,722 on 2 July to a peak of 8,413 on 6 July, declining to 5,068 active open calls by the afternoon of 13 July. The breakdown by service delivery centre revealed the highest burdens in the Inner City SDC (1,089), Roodepoort SDC (997) and Lenasia SDC (958). Major outages for July were most numerous in Alexandra SDC (52) and Midrand SDC (49), underscoring that the crisis is both widespread and concentrated in specific nodal points of the network.
City Power’s Official Response and Denials
Spokesperson Isaac Mangena dismissed claims of systemic failure, attributing the outages to ageing infrastructure, cable theft, vandalism and network overloading. He maintained that turnaround estimates are revised as new faults emerge and denied that the utility ever issues false restoration notices or authorises the removal of equipment from one area to another. Mangena suggested that vehicles seen idle at depots are awaiting shift changes, safety briefings or access to vandalised sites, and insisted that any employee caught diverting parts would face serious disciplinary or criminal action.
Ongoing Investigation and Calls for Accountability
Daily Maverick continues to investigate allegations of organised syndicates linked to electricity repairs, urging residents to share their experiences. Councillors across Johannesburg insist that the utility must acknowledge the depth of the crisis, provide transparent explanations and take decisive action to secure infrastructure, restore spare‑parts chains and dismantle any illicit cash‑for‑power networks. Until City Power offers a candid account of its operational and financial constraints, communities will remain trapped in a cycle of blackouts, desperation and exploitation, undermining both public safety and the city’s economic recovery.