High Court blow to City of Joburg for targeting top private school in South Africa
City of Johannesburg and City Power have suffered a High Court setback for unlawfully cutting power to Curro Sagewood in Noordwyk, and publicly labelling the group as a delinquent consumer.
The Gauteng Division of the High Court ruled in favour of Curro in a dispute over the school’s municipal electricity account, finding that statements made by City Power about the school were wrongful.
The dispute dates back to June 2026, when City Power disconnected the electricity supply to Curro Sagewood after claiming the private school had accumulated more than R9.3 million in unpaid electricity bills.
Curro disputed the amount and argued that the claimed debt formed part of an active billing dispute. The school group maintained that the amount claimed by the City and City Power was not owed.
Despite this, City Power proceeded with the disconnection as part of a wider revenue recovery operation targeting several high-value accounts across Johannesburg.
At the time, the utility said four properties targeted in the operation collectively owed R38.1 million, with individual debts ranging from R5 million to R13 million.
“City Power confirms that its Revenue Protection Unit, working in a coordinated operation with City Power Security and the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD), has disconnected electricity supply to Curro School in Noordwyk on Tuesday, 23 June,” the utility said.
City Power said Curro owed R9.3 million and that the amount had accumulated despite repeated attempts to recover the money and engage with those responsible for the account.
The utility also argued that large outstanding municipal accounts place pressure on its finances and limit its ability to maintain and expand Johannesburg’s electricity infrastructure.
According to City Power, unpaid accounts reduce the resources available to respond to infrastructure failures, minimise outages and fund long-term improvements to the electricity network.
However, the High Court subsequently ruled against the City and City Power over their handling of the dispute and their public statements.
Court rules in Curro’s favour
In a statement issued on 11 August, Curro said the court had ordered City Power to withdraw its previous statements and acknowledge that the account was subject to a billing dispute.
“Curro confirms that the Gauteng Division of the High Court has granted an order in Curro’s favour regarding the municipal billing dispute between Curro Sagewood in Noordwyk, City Power and the City of Johannesburg,” Curro said.
“In summary, the court has ordered that City Power’s public statements regarding Curro Sagewood published in the media on 24 June 2026, and in the Tshedza newsletter on 26 June 2026, are wrongful.”
The court further ordered City Power to remove the statements and publish a corrective statement acknowledging the billing dispute and withdrawing the implication that Curro was a delinquent consumer.
Curro said City Power had also been interdicted from making future statements implying that the account was undisputed or characterising Curro as a delinquent consumer until the dispute had been resolved.
“Curro has consistently maintained that the amount claimed by City Power and the City of Johannesburg is not owed. Curro has continued to pay all current municipal charges punctually and in full,” the school group said.
The company said it remained willing to resolve the underlying billing dispute through engagement with the City.
“The City of Johannesburg is an important partner across Curro’s Gauteng portfolio of schools, and our preference remains to resolve the underlying billing matter through constructive engagement,” Curro said.
“Curro remains committed to acting with integrity in all its relationships and to serving its learners and its school communities, guided by its ethos that every child matters.”
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