From Public Servants to Predators: How Joburg’s Utility Workers Have Weaponised The Grid
Power corrupts, as the saying goes, but these days in Johannesburg, it seems it’s City Power that is corrupt…
For years, Jo’burg residents have endured the systemic collapse of everything from infrastructure to local government. But what’s happening right now is a terrifying escalation. Ratepayers are no longer merely the victims of incompetence and corruption; they have actively become prey.
A hard-hitting investigation by the Daily Maverick has blown the lid off a widespread, alarming phenomenon: utility workers are weaponising their access to the grid to terrorise, intimidate, and extort exorbitant sums of money from law-abiding citizens.
In a recent article they write: “Dozens of our readers have reported being extorted and intimidated by City Power and Eskom employees, contractors and subcontractors, who have turned up at their homes and cut or threatened to switch off their electricity if they don’t shell out sometimes exorbitant amounts of money. Stories from across the city and its wildly unequal socioeconomic landscape highlight how universal this problem is becoming.”
It then goes on to give some extremely disturbing examples, such as one Parkhurst resident who:
Called City Power to report a blown pylon on her street.
Was told by the team who arrived at her house that they hadn’t come to fix the problem, but to disconnect her entirely for an unpaid bill.
When she went to her local City Power Office, she was told (incorrectly) she owed R40 000 in back payments, despite having back-up solar power, and would not get her power back until she paid them.
Concerned about her vulnerable parent back at home, she called her bank and withdrew the money against her home loan.
“I didn’t feel like I had any choice in the matter,” she said. “What can you do? You’re a sitting duck.”
Incredibly, the story doesn’t end there.
When she contacted City Power again to find out more information, she was told that if she carried on asking so many questions, she would risk a random increase on her electricity bill.
When she was finally reconnected, City Power couldn’t fix the breaker on the pylon because they “didn’t have a ladder.” The subcontractor who was later dispatched (with a ladder) to switch her breaker back on, also switched her neighbour’s breaker off. They had a new baby in the house and sat without power for four days.
The subcontractor then insisted he was paid for materials, and subsequently threatened additional, longer blackouts if he wasn’t paid regularly.
In a recorded conversation, he is heard saying, “For me, when I’m going to work… I’m creating a relationship. Because you are the customers, we help each other. We help you, you help us. What we know, one day you will need us. You must cooperate.”
There are similar stories involving Eskom contractors, such as an entire neighbourhood in Extension 2 having their power switched off, and then contractors reportedly going door to door, demanding each household pay between R150 and R250 to be reconnected.
The contractors don’t use Eskom vehicles or wear Eskom uniforms, “But everybody knows they are Eskom guys,” said one resident. “I have always said that this situation will never get fixed, because every two months they know they’ll make R15,000 [off the community], and whoever is working with them will get something also.”
Daily Maverick reporters have uncovered so many examples like this that they have launched a new initiative called Electricity Extortion Watch.
They write, “If you’ve experienced manipulation, threats, damage to property, or illegitimate or unsubstantiated demands for money from City Power or Eskom, we’ve created this form for you, to share your experiences with us and upload any evidence and information that can help expose individuals within this corrupt system, so that further steps can be taken to stop them from preying on others in your neighbourhoods and in your city.”
Their ultimate goal is three-fold:
Build a sense of solidarity and empowerment among residents
Give them an avenue of recourse
Urge them to (safely and discreetly) write down and keep the details of their cases: record conversations, note down licence plates, names and phone numbers, and take photos of any useful, identifying details of individuals.
“We will build this information into a database that is publicly accessible, so we can begin to name and shame perpetrators – with proof – and put pressure on the entities they work for, but also so that households can be alerted to individuals preying on certain areas, identify them and make a stand together.”
As brave and inspiring as this initiative is, it horrifies me that we have come to this as a country. It’s reminiscent of some kind of WWII-esque Resistance movement, and it should not be necessary. Do the residents of Johannesburg even recognise the city they live in?
Once the economic hub of the country, it’s now become Corruption Central, with City Power seemingly front and centre of the most recent scandal.
But the rot within the company doesn’t end with the extortion of its customers.
Only last week, I read reports of a contractor allegedly using at least three different identities to secure lucrative City Power tenders – despite internal reports flagging fraud concerns (massive payments for transformers that never materialised is just one allegation).
According to an investigation by News24, Zimbabwean pastor Witness Mazanga has allegedly benefitted from contracts with the company worth over R500 million. There are also allegations that his brother holds a senior position at City Power, which immediately throws up questions around the procurement and governance processes.
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) is just one of the groups calling for accountability, demanding that the City of Johannesburg mayor and City Power CEO publicly explain the governance, financial controls, and oversight mechanisms that allowed these irregularities to slip through.
Adding insult to all this injury, The Citizen newspaper reports that a former City Power employee-turned- contractor recently made damning allegations against three of his former colleagues.
He claims they’ve been extorting and harassing him since 2020 – to the tune of at least R2.6 million. In an affidavit stamped by police, he wrote, “They operate a criminal syndicate, manipulating tender processes and targeting successful bidders for extortion and threats. I have wanted to open a case so many times, [but] they told me I must not waste my time because they know police personnel and Hawks in high places who [will] block it immediately because they are under their payroll.”
City Power has apparently confirmed that it’s aware of the claims, but is awaiting action by the City of Johannesburg’s Group Forensic and Investigation Service (GFIS).
In the meantime, the whistleblower is living in fear, explaining that he has received death threats, and threats of kidnap against his children.
“Right now, I don’t move” he said. “I am scared. If they silence me, then this thing is not going to go far.”
As always, the only way out of this hot mess appears to be in our own hands. Right now, we are sitting ducks, trapped between institutional negligence and predatory greed. If Johannesburg is to survive this toxic evolution of corruption, its citizens must refuse to bow to intimidation, report every demand for a bribe, and collectively force immediate, transparent accountability onto City Power and Eskom.
The grid belongs to the people who pay for it – not to the criminals trying to hold it ransom.