Pretoria’s electricity system is under strain, with ward councillors in the east warning that a severe shortage of skilled personnel, particularly those authorised to operate on the high-voltage network, will cripple critical operations and delay power restoration.

The Tshwane metro has confirmed and admitted that there’s a significant shortage of staff within its Energy and Electricity Business Unit (EEBU), specifically a high shortage of high-voltage operators essential to keeping the network running.

It is reported that at most of the electricity depots, there are fewer than 5% of staff authorised to work on high-voltage lines.

Councillors warn that unless the shortage is urgently addressed, core functions could be impacted.

These personnel are responsible for installing, repairing and maintaining substations, transformers, circuit breakers and underground cables –work that is now increasingly delayed.

The councillors said the impact is already being felt across communities as vital switching operations, which allow power to be safely rerouted during maintenance or major outages, are being disrupted, placing further pressure on an already fragile system.

Fault-finding on high-voltage lines and repairs are also taking longer, particularly when it comes to locating underground cable failures, resulting in prolonged outages and slower restoration times.

Ward 101 councillor Malcolm de Klerk said the shortage of artisans is being felt directly by residents.

“Outages, especially [at the high voltage] substations are taking much longer. Sometimes, just for a simple switch-back task at a substation, it also gets delayed. It has been this bad for [a very long] time now,” he said.

De Klerk blamed the current coalition government for failing to fill critical vacancies.

“Political decisions by the ANC-led coalition have gotten us to this point where less priority is given to the nuts and bolts of the city, and that’s basic services.”

Ward 44 councillor Samantha de la Rey said the EEBU is ‘severely understaffed’, leaving too few teams to investigate faults, test systems, switch power, and reroute supply during outages.

Ward 85 councillor Jacqui Uys said the crisis has eroded skills capacity within the unit.

“Residents face recurring power outages because there is too much work and too little manpower. That leads to delayed response and restoration times,” she said.

Uys added that warnings were raised about prioritising backdated salary payments over filling vacancies.

“We warned that backdated salary payments would result in positions not being filled and this is what we are experiencing now. The budget has been spent, and vacancies remain, leaving a service delivery gap.”

She said residents face recurring power outages as there is a lot of work, but few qualified technicians, and this leads to delayed response and long restoration times.

Ward 45 councillor Elizabeth Basson said the shortage extends beyond outages, posing a safety risk.

“It doesn’t only mean delays in restoring power, it also means fewer teams to fix streetlights, leaving areas poorly lit and unsafe,” she said.

Basson highlighted repeated faults at the Njala substation, which serves large parts of her ward.

“This year we had a few trips and serious faults at Njala Substation, and restoration times were extremely long due to the shortage of artisans authorised to deal with high-voltage faults.”

She said the shortage is not only in high-voltage, but there is an across-the-board staff shortage, which has led to a massive capacity issue in the city.

Freedom Front Plus councillor Nick Pascoe painted an even bleaker picture, claiming that some depots have less than 5% of staff authorised to work on high-voltage lines.

“Residents are often left without electricity for days because the metro refuses to bring in external expertise,” he said.

Pascoe warned that supply chain failures are compounding the crisis.

“The supply chain for parts and labour has collapsed, severely limiting the metro’s ability to perform even basic maintenance.”

He added that the city’s operational risk rating now stands at a critical 94%.

“Tshwane is not being governed; it is heading for total collapse. A metro cannot call itself ‘smart’ when it cannot keep the lights on.”

Metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo confirmed the staffing shortages but defended the city’s approach.

Mashigo said the city contractors are typically used only for specific capital projects, such as building new substations.

He said the metro cannot rely on external expertise as it is more costly than having a permanent staff.

“Staff shortages are most severe in operational environments, particularly for 24/7 fault-finding. Keeping contractors on permanent standby is significantly more expensive than employing full-time staff,” he said.

Mashigo pointed to planned investment, with the draft medium-term revenue and expenditure framework allocating just under R1.5-billion for repairs and maintenance in 2026/27, rising to just over R1.6-billion by 2028/29. Around a quarter of this budget is earmarked for electricity infrastructure.

“In addition, the draft capital budget sets aside R597-million for energy and electricity in 2026/27, increasing to R836-million the following year, aimed at strengthening and expanding the network,” he said.

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