🔥 Trending City Power Issues and Outages in Johannesburg This Week

City Power, Johannesburg's municipal electricity utility, is currently experiencing a range of challenges, including widespread power outages, infrastructure issues, and significant financial losses due to theft and billing errors.

Current Power Outage Situation

As of July 20, 2026, several areas in Johannesburg are experiencing power outages:

• Windsor East and West: These areas are currently experiencing an overcurrent trip, leading to power loss ¹.
• Ivory Park: Residents in Ivory Park are also reporting power outages, blackouts, and electricity interruptions ⁹.
• General Outages: City Power updates are frequently shared, indicating ongoing issues across various parts of the city. For instance, there's a reported power outage expected to start at 8:00 PM on July 20, 2026, which will last for 14 hours ⁷.

These outages are often due to various factors, including infrastructure failures and, significantly, criminal activity.

Infrastructure and Theft Challenges

City Power is grappling with severe infrastructure problems and a high incidence of cable theft:

• Cable Theft: There have been recent arrests of contractor workers caught allegedly stealing City Power copper cables in the Johannesburg CBD. Two suspects were reportedly cutting cables from an open trench, while a third waited in a getaway vehicle ³. This highlights the ongoing battle against criminal syndicates targeting critical infrastructure.
• Financial Losses: The Auditor-General reported that the City of Johannesburg metro lost nearly R4 billion worth of electricity in the 2024/25 financial year. This staggering amount, which represents more than a fifth of all power purchased by the city, is largely attributed to theft and billing errors ⁵. These losses severely impact City Power's financial stability and ability to maintain and upgrade its infrastructure.

Water Supply Issues

While City Power focuses on electricity, Johannesburg Water, another key municipal entity, is also providing frequent updates on water supply systems. Recent updates from Johannesburg Water on July 20, 2026, include progress and status updates for Soweto Water Supply Systems and Deep South Water Supply Systems ². Although distinct from electricity, disruptions in one utility often have ripple effects on others, and both are critical for the city's functioning.

Efforts to Address Challenges

The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality frequently issues tenders for various services, including those aimed at maintaining and improving infrastructure. For example, Johannesburg Water is seeking contractors for the supply, repair, and replacement of doors, windows, ceilings, painting, and waterproofing, indicating ongoing maintenance efforts across municipal assets ⁸.

The ongoing power issues and financial strains on City Power are significant concerns for Johannesburg residents and are often central to political discourse, as seen in the discussions around mayoral candidates for the metro ⁵.