Lights out warning for anyone living in South Africa’s richest city
The City of Johannesburg (CoJ) has again fallen behind on its required payments to power utility Eskom, with the city on notice for looming power cuts and disruptions.
In an update on the dispute between Eskom and CoJ over non-payment, Eskom noted that the city had now fallen behind on its payments by over R2.7 billion.
Eskom issued a Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA) notice to the City of Johannesburg and City Power in May, warning of looming power cuts if the city did not pay up.
At the time, Eskom said CoJ owed R5.2 billion in arrears debt, with a further R1.6 billion due on 5 June.
While the city made a payment of R1.2 billion to Eskom, it missed the deadline to pay the next R1.6 billion, resulting in an overdue current account of R2.7 billion.
As of 11 June 2026, the city owes Eskom an arrears debt of R5.3 billion—R2.7 billion in overdue current account and R2.6 billion in the balance of the settlement arrangement that was made an order of the court.
“Eskom continues to comply with the settlement agreement, which was made an order of the High Court of South Africa on 7 November 2025,” the utility said.
The agreement was negotiated between Eskom and the CoJ with intervention from the National Department of Electricity and Energy.
Eskom said that it will not sign another payment arrangement with the city, as the current arrangement remains enforceable.
However, a task team has been established between the CoJ, City Power and Eskom, it said. Despite this, it has made it clear that the PAJA process has not been stopped.
The PAJA process is an administrative consultation process that provides affected stakeholders and members of the public with an opportunity to make representations before Eskom reaches a final decision on the power cuts.
Eskom noted that, after Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa announced that Eskom and City Power had reached an agreement in principle to suspend the PAJA process, the public stopped making submissions to Eskom.
The utility said the suspension would be on condition that City Power settles its account—which it has failed to do.
“Eskom will now proceed with the PAJA process,” it said.
Deadline extended
In the interest of ensuring a fair administrative process, Eskom has extended the deadline for the notice by 30 days.
The closing date for public representations, submissions, comments and/or requests will now be the close of business on 17 July 2026.
Eskom will consider all submissions received and communicate the outcome of the process on 24 July 2026.
Civil action group Outa warned residents and businesses in the city to take advantage of the extended period, or face power cuts and disruptions.
The group said the message is simple: “Johannesburg’s electricity crisis has been delayed, not resolved. Residents and businesses should not assume that the risk has passed.”
Outa said that the extension of the PAJA process should also not be viewed as a solution.
“It merely provides Johannesburg residents and businesses with additional time to participate in a process that could ultimately affect South Africa’s economic hub,” it said.
The group criticised the lack of transparency from the national government and city executive in communicating the so-called “settlement agreement” in May.
It said that the announcement created a false impression that the matter had been resolved, when, in reality, this was not the case.
“For weeks, residents were left with the impression that an agreement had been reached and that the risk of electricity interruptions had passed. Eskom’s latest statement confirms that this is not the case,” it said.
“Johannesburg residents are already paying some of the highest municipal tariffs in the country. They should not be exposed to the risk of electricity interruptions because of governance failures, financial mismanagement, electricity losses, poor revenue management, and inadequate oversight.”
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