- How did Johannesburg’s power utility rack up R22.5 billion in debt while collecting billions from customers?
- A new report points to a controversial cash-sweeping system that may have masked a decade of financial decline.
- City Power was once Joburg’s cash cow. Now it’s drowning in debt, with watchdogs demanding answers over billions siphoned through an opaque municipal funding system.
By Jonathan Erasmus
City Power, once a major cash generator for Johannesburg, has become a multibillion-rand financial burden, with its internal debt reaching R22.5 billion by July 2026 and potentially climbing to nearly R25 billion in October.
The report, titled An Essential Guide to Fixing Joburg and prepared for the Joburg Crisis Alliance (JCA) reveals how the City of Johannesburg’s longstanding cash-sweeping system has been used to prop up the struggling electricity utility, partly through surpluses generated by Johannesburg Water.
Yunus Chamda, a coordinator at the JCA, believes the incoming council
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