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The Joburg Crisis Alliance (JCA) supports the call by the Johannesburg Property Owners and Managers Association (JPOMA) for urgent intervention by the City of Johannesburg and City Power to address the repeated and prolonged electricity outages affecting Johannesburg’s inner city.

The crisis is not only affecting residents. Businesses, workers, property owners and livelihoods are being severely affected by unreliable electricity and associated water interruptions. JPOMA has documented substantial expenditure on diesel and emergency water supplies, disruption to businesses dependent on electricity, tenants seeking to terminate leases and growing pressure on property owners.

Reliable electricity is fundamental to the economic survival and regeneration of the inner city. Businesses cannot operate effectively through repeated multi-day outages, while property owners cannot indefinitely absorb the enormous cost of generators, diesel, water provision and damaged infrastructure. Workers and informal traders whose incomes depend on functioning businesses are equally vulnerable.

The JCA therefore supports JPOMA’s call for the City and City Power to investigate the repeated failures, secure critical infrastructure, publish the findings into the fires at Central Substation, and provide a funded repair and prevention plan with clear responsibilities and deadlines. JPOMA has also called for direct engagement with affected communities, businesses and property owners.

The inner city cannot be revitalised while its electricity infrastructure repeatedly fails. Restoring reliable power is both a service-delivery imperative and an economic necessity. The JCA calls on the City to treat this as an emergency requiring urgent, transparent and accountable action. 

Issued by the Joburg Crisis Alliance