City of Johannesburg (CoJ) officials began cutting off electricity to government departments last week due to the non-payment of bills.
Figures tabled this week reveal that City Power is owed almost R754m.
The same situation exists at Johannesburg Water, where government departments owe the city more than R600m.
The city’s debtors’ book has climbed to R71bn. This is what residents, businesses and other organisations owe the city in unpaid services, rates and taxes.
Joburg mayor Dada Morero, speaking at one of the government disconnection sites, said all customers, including government institutions, had a responsibility to honour their municipal obligations in full and on time.
He said the city was launching an aggressive campaign to recover money owed by government departments and state entities, with a large-scale service disconnection drive.
Power was cut at a department of co-operative governance & traditional affairs facility and health department buildings. An attempt was made to cut the power at the Johannesburg high court but CoJ workers could not access the building.
The list of non-paying government and parastatal institutions was included in the reports for the second quarter (October to December 2025) from Johannesburg Water (JW) and City Power tabled at a council meeting on Monday.
The City Power quarterly report claims Eskom is the city’s biggest debtor, owing R702m.
The City Power quarterly report claims Eskom is the city’s biggest debtor, owing R702m. The power utility said this related to network services rendered by City Power to Eskom over an extended period.
“City Power and Eskom have a long-standing arrangement at the Lunar Intake Substation,” City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said.
“While Eskom supplies bulk electricity to City Power at high voltage at this point, City Power in turn steps down that electricity and uses its own distribution infrastructure to wheel power on behalf of Eskom to its end customers in areas such as Finetown and Laksman and others.
“This constitutes a service for which City Power is entitled to be compensated. The amount in question has accumulated over time in relation to these services.”
JW brings in about R11.9bn annually from its customers.
City Power’s financial position for October to December last year reflects a significant deterioration year-on-year, with the deficit after tax worsening by R869m.
This performance trajectory indicates ongoing structural challenges in revenue collection and cost containment at the entity, the report noted. City Power currently is R19bn in the red.
Ordinary residents of Joburg receive a formal warning for an account that is more than 30 days in arrears, notifying them of pending electricity or water disconnection. These notices are designed to warn users that their services will be cut if arrears are not settled or a payment arrangement is not made within a specified “reasonable period”.
A fee of about R250 is levied on the consumer’s account for the delivery of the notice.
- This story is produced by Our City News, a non-profit newsroom that serves the people of Joburg.
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