Illegal connections blamed for 21 power trips in Rabie Ridge

By Lebone Rodah Mosima

City Power said it would increase efforts to restore electricity in Rabie Ridge and surrounding areas after the utility recorded 21 power trips between July and October, largely blamed on illegal connections and overloaded infrastructure.

The utility announced on Wednesday that it would accelerate the restoration of faulty transformers, network normalisation and action against illegal connections from Thursday, with operations ramping up further from Monday.

The announcement followed City Power’s seventh Regional Electricity Imbizo in Rabie Ridge, attended by Johannesburg Executive Mayor Dada Morero, where residents raised complained about repeated outages, transformer failures, cable theft, vandalism, streetlighting and billing problems.

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Most outages took place in Extensions 4 and 5.

Acting chief executive Rendani Sadiki said repeated transformer failures in the two extensions were primarily caused by sustained overloading from illegal connections in surrounding informal settlements.

She said that enforcement operations alone would not stabilise the network without community cooperation and compliance with electricity payment requirements.

“Since May 2025, we have normalised 372 failed units across this area, and 86.5% of those households are now buying electricity. That is real progress, but our target is higher, and we will not stop until we reach it,” Sadiki said.

“Customers who pay for their electricity should not be inconvenienced because others are not paying. As we restore each transformer, the households it serves must be metered, registered and vending, because switching on a transformer into an area that is not ready simply means it will fail again, and our people will be back in the dark.”

Morero said paying customers should not continue suffering outages because of illegal connections and non-payment.

“Those who cannot afford electricity should register for the City’s Expanded Social Package to get free basic electricity and other municipal rebates. To those who can pay but choose not to, every rand taken and not paid for is taken from your own neighbours,” he said.

During an operation in Kanana Informal Settlement and Klipfontein View on Monday, City Power’s revenue protection teams, working with Rabie Ridge police and the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department, recovered one tonne of illegally connected cable valued at about R500,000 and two transformers worth about R2 million.

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City Power said the operation also uncovered suspected organised criminal activity involving illegal electricity connections, including an incident in which residents removed a transformer before enforcement teams could reach it. Criminal cases have been opened.

The utility raised concerns about the theft of aerial bundled conductor cables from streetlighting infrastructure for use in illegal connections, as well as the deliberate destruction of streetlights to create criminal hotspots.

Morero told residents to report criminal activity and assist the municipality in protecting electricity infrastructure.

City Power also announced about R79.55 million in infrastructure investments in the area during the current financial year.

Acting chief operating officer Anza Mudua said the investments included R14.1 million to upgrade Allandale Substation and increase its capacity to 40MVA, allowing it to support housing developments planned by the Department of Human Settlements.

A further R28.45 million has been allocated to secondary plant infrastructure, including remote monitoring at Allandale and 11 secondary substations.

Another R12 million will go towards public lighting, including 300 solar LED luminaires and 25 solar high masts, while R25 million has been allocated to secondary distribution infrastructure to restore out-of-service equipment and reduce outage durations.

Morero committed to improving coordination between City Power, the Department of Human Settlements and law enforcement agencies to accelerate formal electrification in informal settlements around Rabie Ridge, Klipfontein View and Kanana.

He highlighted solar-powered microgrids as an alternative for settlements where conventional electricity connections are not immediately feasible.

City Power said it had already piloted microgrid technology in Amarasta and Shalazile, with further implementation dependent on funding, technical feasibility and the suitability of individual sites.

Sadiki also stressed the importance of electricity payments following the introduction of City Power’s financial ring-fencing arrangement on 1 October 2026.

Under the arrangement, the city continues collecting electricity payments, while City Power receives greater financial certainty over resources available for operations, maintenance and infrastructure investment.

Residents who cannot afford electricity were encouraged to register for the City’s Expanded Social Package, which provides qualifying indigent households with between 50kWh and 120kWh of free electricity each month.

Morero said more than 113,000 people were already registered under the programme.

City Power also told residents that the city’s debt relief programme, which offers qualifying customers a 50% write-off of municipal debt and full waivers of interest and fees, closes on 31 October.

The utility urged residents to report cable theft, vandalism and illegal connections to its 24-hour control room on 0800 116 166 or via WhatsApp on 083 579 4497.

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