{"id":648740,"date":"2026-05-19T19:52:01","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T17:52:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=648740"},"modified":"2026-05-19T19:56:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T17:56:12","slug":"eskom-threatens-blackouts-in-south-africas-richest-city-over-r6-84-billion-debt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/energy\/648740-eskom-threatens-blackouts-in-south-africas-richest-city-over-r6-84-billion-debt.html","title":{"rendered":"Eskom threatens blackouts in South Africa’s richest city over R6.84-billion debt"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Eskom has issued a notice that it intends to reduce, interrupt, or terminate electricity supply to certain bulk supply points in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The utility said the action followed repeated payment defaults by the City of Johannesburg and City Power under their electricity supply agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eskom said Johannesburg and City Power owe R5.26 billion in arrear debt, excluding a further R1.58 billion current account due on 5 June 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The total amount at issue is R6.84 billion, if the current account is included with the arrears cited by Eskom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eskom said it had worked with the metro for more than two years to support it in meeting its payment obligations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It said the continued failure to honour the electricity supply agreement had forced it to issue the formal notice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The notice does not necessarily mean that interruptions will begin immediately, as municipalities can challenge or negotiate Eskom\u2019s planned action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Eskom has recently implemented similar measures against other municipalities that failed to settle their electricity accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 7 May 2026, Eskom announced that planned interruptions against Mamusa Local Municipality would proceed the following day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those interruptions affected Migdol and the well-known town of Schweizer-Reneke, with rotational supply cuts scheduled in four-hourly blocks, thrice per day, including evening peaks from 16:30 to 20:30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eskom had also planned interruptions against Dr Beyers Naude Local Municipality and Kai !Garib Local Municipality from the same date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those interruptions were suspended after legal and procedural developments, including an urgent court application by Dr Beyers Naude Local Municipality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kai !Garib Local Municipality also asked Eskom to suspend the interruption while it prepared an urgent court application, which Eskom accepted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eskom warned that any failure by Kai !Garib to issue the court application would allow it to proceed with interruptions at short notice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Municipal debt crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Eskom said it was unacceptable for Johannesburg and City Power to collect electricity revenue while failing to pay the state-owned power utility its share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It said escalating municipal and metro arrear debt undermined its cost-efficiency efforts and weakened its financial sustainability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parliament\u2019s Standing Committee on Appropriations heard on 24 March 2026 that outstanding municipal arrears had reached approximately R116 billion and were projected to escalate to R358 billion by 2031.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eskom said its ability to supply electricity at affordable prices depends on strengthening its balance sheet by increasing revenue and reducing expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It said revenue can only be increased by collecting electricity debts, increasing electricity tariffs, or a combination of both measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The utility said many municipalities and metros were working with it to develop sustainable debt solutions instead of facing supply interruptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 5 May 2026, Eskom announced that nine municipalities had received council resolutions to sign Distribution Agency Agreements after consultation processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eskom presents Distribution Agency Agreements as long-term, non-permanent contracts that form part of its Active Partnering initiative with municipalities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The agreements are designed to improve the technical and financial sustainability of municipal electricity distribution operations, Eskom said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The services available under the model include skills development, training, smart meter installation or replacement, and revenue collection by Eskom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eskom said it was working nationally to support the rollout of the initiative as municipal electricity debt continues to pressure its finances.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eskom has issued a notice that it intends to reduce, interrupt, or terminate electricity supply to certain bulk supply points in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":643737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27995],"tags":[30262,10216,181],"class_list":["post-648740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","tag-city-of-johannesburg-coj","tag-city-power","tag-eskom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648740"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=648740"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":648741,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648740\/revisions\/648741"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=648740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=648740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=648740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}