Joburg inner city electricity crisis deepens as city loses billions in revenue

Johannesburg's inner city is grappling with a severe electricity crisis, exacerbated by billions of rand in losses due to ageing infrastructure, illegal connections, and cable theft. At an inner city electricity summit in Yeoville, Johannesburg's Executive Mayor Dada Morero disclosed that electricity losses amount to approximately 29%, driven by illegal connections, meter bypassing, theft, and unrecorded consumption.

The city spends around R23 billion annually purchasing bulk electricity from Eskom but incurs close to R7 billion in losses due to unaccounted electricity usage. Illegal connections are straining infrastructure not designed to handle the additional load, necessitating repairs to burnt transformers and stolen cables. Morero urged residents to pay for electricity and municipal services, emphasizing the need to replace damaged infrastructure.

The issue reached a critical point in February when a fire at Bree Substation plunged large parts of the CBD and surrounding areas into darkness, affecting neighborhoods like Newtown, Braamfontein, and Parktown. City Power's Acting CEO, Charles Tlouane, highlighted that older infrastructure makes fault identification and repairs more challenging.

The Inner City Investment Programme aims to address these challenges by reallocating load from Pritchard Substation, refurbishing Central and Siemert Road substations, replacing deteriorated switchgear at Central Substation, restoring the Bree-Fordsburg high-voltage cable circuit, and renewing transformers at various substations.

Additionally, R40 million is allocated for rehabilitating underground electricity tunnels, including structural and lighting repairs. With electricity losses continuing to drain resources, Morero emphasized the necessity of raising capital to maintain and expand the city's aging infrastructure to accommodate growing demand.