City Power has cut electricity to 12 businesses over a billing error – and refuses to fix it, writes Publisher of Energize, Anton Marsh. A two-year account dispute with City Power has left the Johannesburg-based businesses without power. Despite proven overpayments and official assurances, the utility disconnected the building without notice.
Let me be blunt: City Power is sabotaging the very businesses that keep Johannesburg’s economy running. As the publisher of Energize, a leading South African publication focused on the energy developments, we’ve reported for years on the challenges facing our power sector. But I never thought my own business would be brought to its knees by the sheer incompetence of our municipal electricity provider.
In March 2023, I requested that City Power downgrade our electrical supply from an industrial to a commercial connection, something that should have reduced our bill. Instead, two years after the downgrade, when I managed to get the billing department to look into our account, we were incorrectly upgraded. We were hit with an erroneous bill totalling R2,5 million. For nearly two years, I paid our regular bills, which were incorrectly high on the industrial connection, overpaying by at least R15 000 a month until my bill was “fixed”. By my accounts, we are owed at least R400 000 in overpaid amounts. Perhaps this is why the city is reluctant to fix the account.
While checking through documents, I discovered that City Power had been referencing the incorrect account number on the job card, which I informed them of. In April this year, a disconnection crew arrived. We managed to halt the termination at the last minute, only to receive another cut-off notice a few weeks later. Despite multiple assurances that the issue would be corrected – and even intervention from our ward councillor, Martin Williams – nothing changed. This time, we were granted a temporary reprieve until the end of July.
City Power claimed the issue had been resolved on July 31. I received no communication, no updated bill, no explanation – just a closed case file. Then, on August 5, a disconnection team arrived and cut off power to the building without notice. This did not just affect our business. Our building houses 11 other companies whose operations have also been jeopardised by City Power’s reckless actions. We are now running on a generator at significant cost – and presumably at even greater cost to the city, which appears happy to waste money while it punishes its rate-paying customers.
The sheer incompetence of the billing departments at City Power and the City of Johannesburg is not just frustrating; it is economically destructive. The damage being done to small and medium businesses in this city is incalculable. The wastefulness of the legal actions and disconnection processes is a drain on public resources. It’s time we hold City Power and the City of Johannesburg accountable.
If you’ve had a similar experience, share your story with us at editor@energize.co.za.
