Roughly 97% of Tshepisong’s more than 12 000 electricity customers are not purchasing electricity legally, City Power has revealed, as the utility withdrew all technical restoration and maintenance services from the area with effect from Friday, 24 July 2026. Only about 3% of customers in the area are vending electricity legally, according to City Power, and these are largely businesses such as Pick n Pay, BP Garage, Chesa Nyama, Moses Supermarket and Butchery, along with chicken farms and bulk egg suppliers. Spokesperson Isaac Mangena said this level of compliance was far below what is required to sustain the electricity network.
Millions invested, undone by illegal connections City Power said it had invested millions of rand over several years to improve electricity supply in Tshepisong. More than 20 new pole-mounted transformers were installed between January and May 2025 alone, at an estimated cost of approximately R400 000 each. Despite this investment, the utility said the gains kept being reversed.
“Illegal connections, meter bypassing, cable tampering and network overloading continue to destroy infrastructure and reverse the progress made.” Compliance threshold before power is switched on City Power has adopted an 80% vending compliance threshold that must be reached before newly restored infrastructure is energised. As part of the agreed normalisation programme, customers are required to make an initial electricity purchase of R500, while pensioners registered on the Expanded Social Package are required to pay R200, before supply is safely restored. Thereafter, all customers must continue purchasing electricity for their own ongoing consumption like any other legally connected customer.
Mangena explained why the threshold mattered. “Achieving the 80% vending threshold demonstrates the community’s commitment to using electricity legally and helps ensure that newly commissioned infrastructure remains protected and sustainable.” Some transformers have already been installed and are ready to supply electricity but remain switched off because the required compliance levels have not been reached. Instead of supporting the process, City Power said some residents had illegally reconnected these transformers before commissioning and continued interfering with the network by reconnecting infrastructure unlawfully and throwing wires onto overhead lines to del…
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