City Power has promised a six-month plan to restore and normalise Tshepisong’s electricity supply after residents confronted the utility over years of unreliable service.

The commitment was made during a City Power community imbizo on August 27, where residents raised concerns about prolonged outages, damaged infrastructure and what they described as the utility’s failure to attend to individual household complaints.

Agnes Ndima accused City Power of undermining residents, saying the community had become increasingly frustrated with how electricity supply was being managed.

“Some of us are buying electricity, but when they switch off, they include everyone,” said Ndima.

Welcome Mboniswa said the condition of City Power’s infrastructure was deteriorating and that the utility’s slow response to outages was affecting more than households.

He said schools, businesses and clinics were also being affected, while calling for the underlying causes of illegal connections to be addressed.

Other residents during the imbizo claimed that about 10 transformers were awaiting repairs, with one school allegedly having been without electricity for months.

They said the lack of service and delays in attending to individual household calls had also pushed some residents towards illegal connections.

• Read the initial article here: City power withdraws service delivery in Tshepisong

Infrastructure decay and non-payment surge

Some residents further claimed that informal settlements like Leratong Village had been without electricity since 1996, arguing that the prolonged lack of formal supply had contributed to the growth of illegal connections.

City Power, however, said the electricity crisis in Tshepisong was being worsened by widespread illegal connections, vandalism, sabotage, tampering and resistance to its network normalisation programme.

Acting CEO Charles Tlouane said the Tshepisong network serves about 12 000 customers, but only 202 of the 11 958 registered prepaid customers are actively purchasing electricity, representing an active vending rate of about 1.7%.

“Switching off electricity because of non-payment is not, on its own, a sustainable solution to the challenges we face in Tshepisong.

We need City Power and the community to work together to find a lasting solution,” said Tlouane.

He said City Power would embark on a six-month phased process to normalise the network and improve the reliability of electricity supply.

Phased normalisation and reduced penalties

The programme will include comprehensive meter audits, the replacement of meters where necessary, transformer upgrades, repairs to deteriorating infrastructure and network reinforcement.

City Power will also continue taking action against illegal connections.

He added that although the municipal by-law allows City Power to impose a R14 000 penalty for illegal connections and bypassed meters, the amount had been reduced to R500 for affected residents as an incentive for them to regularise their connections and resume purchasing electricity.

Residents registered for Free Basic Electricity will pay R200.

City of Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero said the six-month intervention would be implemented in phases and urged residents to cooperate with City Power teams working in the area.

He said improved infrastructure and proper metering should ultimately encourage more residents to purchase electricity legally and pay for their consumption.

Additional grid capacity added

Additional capacity is also being added to strengthen the network. Five Eskom lines at the Vlei Substation have been installed and are expected to come online once City Power completes the normalisation process. According to Morero, the additional lines will increase capacity to meet future demand while reducing pressure on the Tshepisong network.

He also acknowledged concerns about the affordability of electricity, explaining that the city uses a cross-subsidisation approach to support vulnerable households.

“Prepaid customers who qualify for the Expanded Social Package will not be required to pay the monthly surcharge. Tshepisong, like most of the townships in the city, is also exempted from rates and taxes in recognition of the socio-economic challenges faced by the community,” said Morero.

MMC for Infrastructure Services Jack Sekwaila urged residents to work with police to tackle vandalism, illegal connections and so-called electricity mafias.

He said the success of City Power’s normalisation programme would also depend on residents supporting legal connections, reporting criminal activity and purchasing electricity.

By the end of the imbizo, City Power announced that electricity supply to Tshepisong had been restored, marking the start of the promised normalisation process.