City Power spends R236m replacing infrastructure damaged by cable theft - TimesLIVE
City Power spent R236m replacing electricity infrastructure damaged by cable theft and vandalism in the 2025/26 financial year, with criminal activity contributing to about 20% of power outages across its network.
The utility revealed the figures during its ninth regional electricity imbizo in South Hills, Johannesburg, on Wednesday, where residents raised concerns about recurring power interruptions and the condition of ageing infrastructure.
City Power acting CEO Charles Tlouane said some of its critical substations such as Wemmer and Moffat continued to face operational challenges because of their age. Wemmer has been operating for more than 70 years.
“We are therefore taking a strategic approach to maintenance, where we do not simply repair faults and return the same ageing equipment to service,” he said.
Tlouane said the utility was replacing key components and phasing out obsolete equipment where possible to improve electricity supply reliability.
Cable theft and vandalism remained a major challenge, with City Power responsible for protecting more than 22,000 load centres across its distribution network. More than 3,000 have been secured so far.
The utility has also asked the South African National Defence Force for assistance in preventing infrastructure crime, particularly in the Johannesburg inner-city tunnels, which contain about 14km of electricity cables.
City Power said theft and vandalism affecting streetlights cost it R161.8m in the 2024/25 financial year. The utility is responsible for almost 400,000 streetlights and about 50,000km of low-voltage electricity cables.
“Cable theft and vandalism are not only criminal acts; they directly undermine our ability to provide reliable electricity to communities,” Tlouane said, calling on residents, community policing forums and law enforcement agencies to help protect infrastructure.
The utility also acknowledged complaints about the quality of contractors’ repair work, saying it would strengthen quality assurance, improve oversight and hold contractors accountable for their workmanship.
On billing, Tlouane said outstanding queries had dropped from about 8,000 to fewer than 2,000 since City Power took over the electricity billing function in July 2025.
The utility plans to intensify the removal of illegal electricity connections, particularly at hijacked buildings, where unauthorised connections and unaccounted-for consumption place additional pressure on the network.
Under its normalisation programme, affected communities must achieve at least 80% electricity vending compliance before restored infrastructure is energised.
City Power board chairperson Makhosini Kharodi said financial reforms needed to translate into visible improvements in service delivery.
He said the ring-fencing of the electricity business, which began on October 1, was intended to provide greater certainty over resources available for operations, maintenance and infrastructure investment, while the City of Johannesburg continued collecting customer payments.
The utility also urged qualifying residents to register for the city’s expanded social package, which provides assistance to vulnerable and low-income households.
Eligible households registered for the free basic electricity programme, may receive between 50kWh and 120kWh of free electricity a month, depending on their circumstances and eligibility.
Qualifying indigent customers may also be exempt from the R70 monthly service charge and R140 network capacity charge.
City Power reminded residents that the city’s debt relief programme closes on October 31. Qualifying customers may receive a 50% write-off of municipal debt and full waivers of interest and applicable fees, subject to the programme’s terms and conditions.
