City Power says it needs R44bn to replace ageing infrastructure

JOHANNESBURG - Johannesburg City Power said it needs about R44 billion to replace its ageing infrastructure.  

The power utility has placed its old infrastructure at the heart of its technical electricity losses of about R1.5 billion.  

According to the latest Auditor-General (AG)’s report, the entity’s non-technical losses - which are due to theft, illegal connections, and billing errors - are R3.4 billion.  

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A transformer’s lifespan is supposed to be around 35 years. However, most of Johannesburg City Power’s transformers have exceeded that.  

City Power CEO Tshifularo Mashava said this has resulted in frequent breakdowns, which lead to the entity losing electricity before they can even sell it to the customer.  

“I indicated some of the transformers are actually 90 years old. It means people 30 years ago should have changed these transformers – they didn’t. Twenty-five years ago, they didn’t. Twenty years ago, they didn’t. The administration of 2010 should have changed them – they didn’t. We are sitting in 2025; these things have not been changed. We need R44 billion to change it - we don’t have it.”  

Mashava said the entity is trying to raise funds from international investors and is lobbying the Johannesburg municipality to increase its budget.