City Power flags copper theft and prepaid meter breach at Randburg imbizo

City Power's 10th Electricity Imbizo in Randburg, held on Wednesday, brought focus on two major issues: copper theft and security breaches in its prepaid metering system. Acting CEO Charles Tlouane called for a larger effort against infrastructure theft, emphasizing that City Power alone could not solve the problem. He urged collaboration from law enforcement, government departments, communities, and the metal-trading industry.

Tlouane also criticized scrapyards that operated outside regulatory requirements, blaming weak oversight by authorities for encouraging theft and vandalism of electricity infrastructure. He stressed that efforts to curb cable theft must address the market for stolen metals, including those who buy, trade, and benefit from stolen materials.

Tlouane highlighted that City Power's non-technical losses were at about 20%, largely due to illegal activity in informal settlements. He estimated that Johannesburg's 400 informal settlements contributed to the problem through electricity theft, illegal connections, and unauthorized vending. Additionally, the aged electricity infrastructure was prone to leakages and faults, further exacerbating the issue.

To address these concerns, City Power implemented measures like suspending prepaid and postpaid conversions to clean up its system and data. However, this move led to an investigation that uncovered a significant security breach involving "ghost vouchers." These vouchers compromised the prepaid system, prompting City Power to seek external assistance for the investigation.

The prepaid-to-postpaid programme, which targeted residential customers with non-vending meters, raised concerns about tampering, bypassing, and unaccounted-for consumption. Meanwhile, City Power reported progress on network upgrades in Randburg, replacing 1,600 meters of feeder cable in Bryanston Extension 3, completing 98% of the Fontainebleau underground cable project, and replacing 600 meters of feeder cable in Ferndale.

Public lighting work also reached high completion rates in Randpark, Ferndale, Bryanbrink, and Daniel Brink.