WATCH | Joburg avoids Eskom blackout threat

Johannesburg has avoided a looming electricity cut threat after Eskom and City Power agreed to reinforce an existing debt repayment agreement.

Eskom will now step in to provide technical support to City Power and the metro.

Speaking after a high-level meeting with Joburg mayor Dada Morero and Eskom CEO Dan Marokane on Tuesday, electricity minister Kgosientso Ramokgopa said the parties had agreed to stick to an existing debt repayment agreement rather than negotiate a new one.

This comes after Eskom had issued a final warning to the city to settle an overdue bulk electricity debt of R5.2bn.

The power utility has threatened to reduce or cut electricity supply to bulk supply points starting from July 8 if the arrears are not cleared.

Ramokgopa said the city experienced financial challenges towards the end of last year and at the beginning of 2026, which left it unable to comply with parts of the agreement.

“Eskom, consistent with the provisions of the agreement, then issued a notice of interruption, disruption or discontinuation of bulk electricity supply to the City of Johannesburg,” he said.

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He added that the major shift would now be a closer partnership between Eskom, City Power and the municipality instead of what he described as an “arm’s-length relationship”.

“Johannesburg is just too big to fail. It is the powerhouse of the South African economy and the epicentre of the financial markets, not only in the country but across the continent. Eskom will provide technical support to City Power to improve revenue collection and reduce electricity losses.

“We know, for example, that there are about 30% technical losses experienced in Johannesburg. The average in the country is about 10%,” he said.

He said the intervention would focus on reducing technical losses.

“For that package of interventions to happen, we can’t be at arm’s length. So we’re going to support the City of Johannesburg,” Ramokgopa said.

Morero said technical teams have started with their work to look at what exactly their losses are.

“They will look at where we are bleeding? What needs to be done? Where are we bleeding in terms of revenue collection? What capacity and support do we need in the partnership? So all those issues have been discussed, and will be taken care of, and our technical teams are ready,” he said.

“But we are confident that we’ll resolve all the issues and help City Power to get where it should be.”

Sowetan