SHARE
City Power Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Charles Tlouane has sent a stern warning to government institutions to lead by example by honouring their municipal payment obligations, saying sustainable electricity services depend on all spheres of government working together to ensure City Power has the resources needed to maintain, repair and modernise Johannesburg’s electricity network.
Speaking at the conclusion of two days of engagements with City Power’s Key Customers, and Government Accounts Indaba on Tuesday, 30 June 2026, Tlouane said the entity had deliberately prioritised engagements and collaboration with customers before implementing credit control measures, but stressed that the discussions must now translate into tangible action on both sides.
“As government, we have a responsibility to lead by example. We cannot expect residents and businesses to honour their payment obligations if government institutions do not do the same. The purpose of these engagements is to resolve challenges collaboratively, but ultimately we must act because sustainable service delivery depends on sustainable revenue, ” said Acting CEO Tlouane.
Government institutions currently owe City Power more than R270 million for electricity consumed, with public healthcare facilities accounting for a big chunk of the outstanding debt. While City Power remains committed to resolving legitimate billing and account-related challenges through intergovernmental engagements, the entity emphasised that revenue collected from customers is essential to fund maintenance, infrastructure refurbishment, operational costs and future network investment. Overall debt owed to City Power by residential and business customers, as well as Large Power Users (LPUs), amounts to approximately R13.3 billion.
City of Johannesburg Group Chief Financial Officer Tebogo Moraka echoed the call for greater collaboration, saying the engagements formed part of the City’s commitment to strengthening relationships with government customers before implementing credit control measures. He said programmes such as Meter-to-Cash and improved digital customer engagement platforms are intended to simplify billing, query resolution and customer interactions, while encouraging customers to settle accounts on time to support continued service delivery.
The Government Accounts Indaba concluded a two-day stakeholder engagement programme that commenced on Monday, 29 June 2026 with the Key Customer Forum, which brought together Johannesburg’s largest commercial and industrial electricity users, who collectively contribute about 45% of City Power’s monthly revenue collections, approximately R2.3 billion of the R5.1 billion collected monthly.
City of Johannesburg Executive Mayor Cllr Dada Morero used the platform to outline a sweeping restructuring of City Power’s business model, from billing reform and revenue ring-fencing to capital investment and the transition into a full-service energy entity.
“In 2024, we took a decision to migrate billing directly to City Power, and we implemented it in 2025. Now City Power is responsible for the billing function. The next stage is looking at how we ring-fence the revenue coming from City Power, so that it is meaningfully reinvested back into City Power as an entity,” said Mayor Morero.
As part of City Power’s broader turnaround strategy and efforts to reset its contracts with all customers, the entity assumed full responsibility for electricity billing from the City of Johannesburg, effective 1 July 2025. This transfer addresses long-standing billing challenges, and a dedicated billing unit has been established to manage queries, reduce turnaround times, and ensure accurate and transparent billing for all customers. Although customers’ electricity bills will still be issued through the City, the improvements have been noticeable, with City Power having full oversight of the billing process, leading to fewer estimation errors and improved accountability. Customers can report or resolve billing issues by emailing billing@citypower.co.za or calling 011 490 7484.
“We are also looking at expanding the electricity business into an energy business. We are now investing capital into EV(Electric Vehicle) charging stations because the world is moving into electric vehicles, and we cannot be left behind,” Morero said.
City Power’s Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) Thamsanqa Mathiso assured both Key Customers and Government Accounts that outstanding billing queries have reduced significantly since moving billing from COJ.
“There were approximately 8 000 queries when City Power took over the function in July 2025, and now we are sitting below 2 000. We are monitoring those queries on a daily basis to ensure they are resolved. What we need to improve on is communication, so that customers are informed where to go to escalate queries, and informed of when their queries have been resolved,” said Mathiso.
City Power also encouraged customers with solar installations and Small-Scale Embedded Generation (SSEG) systems to register their systems. Mathiso explained that registration is intended to support safety, compliance and accurate measurement of electricity flows between customers and the grid.
“We are not penalising customers. We are saying customers must register their solar systems so that we can check the installation, ensure it is safe and make sure meters reflect what has been imported from City Power and what has been supplied back into the grid from the customer,” Mathiso said.
While some customers in attendance raised concerns about outages and reliability of supply, City Power outlines its plans to prioritise investment in critical infrastructure to improve reliability, strengthen capacity and enhance security of supply. The entity’s approved 2026/27 capital budget will support network infrastructure projects, including substation upgrades, high-voltage infrastructure, distribution strengthening, smart metering, alternative energy initiatives and revenue improvement programmes. Some key infrastructure projects currently underway include substation refurbishments in different regions, cable replacement projects, network redundancy improvements and customer-supported initiatives aimed at reducing outage impacts and improving operational flexibility.
“The partnership we have with you as customer will ensure we win the fight against theft and vandalism; we invest in the future of this city and country because if Joburg works, the country will prosper and investments will increase,” added Acting CEO Tlouane.”We should partner in investing in sustainable energy. Energy is the centre of everything, of the future. Without energy, there won’t be any growth. We cannot turn a blind eye while problems persist in our schools and hospitals. We must stabilise the grid, honour our payment obligations, and work together, because Johannesburg cannot fail,” Acting CEO Tlouane concluded.
City Power extends its sincere thanks to all customers, government, business and residential, who continue to pay their accounts on time and who partner with the entity in protecting infrastructure and building a sustainable energy future.
INFO SUPPLIED.