CITY POWER is on track to restore electricity supply to customers and businesses in parts of Jeppe after securing the specialised replacement cable required to repair extensive damage caused by the theft of approximately 400 metres of low-voltage feeder cable from underground electricity tunnels.
The damage was discovered during post-restoration inspections following an outage in Maboneng on 11 July 2026.
During the inspection, technical teams uncovered extensive vandalism inside underground cable tunnels where criminals had stolen approximately 400 metres of low-voltage feeder cable, including 120mm² four-core copper, 70mm² four-core copper, 95mm² four-core aluminium and 150mm² four-core aluminium cable.
The theft has left several customers and businesses in and around Jeppe without electricity, disrupting commercial activity, affecting livelihoods and inconveniencing residents who depend on a reliable electricity supply.
The outage also impacts sporting and other cultural activities planned for the Inner City, demonstrating how a single act of infrastructure crime can have far-reaching consequences for businesses, residents, visitors and the broader economy.
Immediately after the extent of the theft was established, the procurement process to source the specialised replacement cable was initiated, which is not ordinarily held in stock because of its unique specifications.
The cable was collected on the evening of 24 July 2026, with installation scheduled for Saturday, 25 July 2026. Subject to the successful completion of repairs, testing and commissioning, electricity supply is expected to be restored.
The replacement value of the stolen cable alone is estimated at approximately R250 000.
This excludes the significant costs associated with specialised equipment, transportation, testing, reinstatement of the network and the operational resources required to safely restore electricity supply.
Every incident of cable theft places enormous pressure on “our financial and operational resources. Funds that should be invested in replacing ageing infrastructure, strengthening the electricity network, improving reliability and expanding services are instead redirected towards replacing stolen infrastructure and responding to criminal acts”, read the media statement.
At a time when significant investment is required to modernise Johannesburg’s electricity network, infrastructure crime continues to undermine these efforts and delays improvements that would benefit customers.
The Jeppe incident is not an isolated event. It forms part of a sustained pattern of attacks on Johannesburg’s electricity infrastructure that has continued over an extended period and continues to place immense pressure on our ability to provide a reliable electricity supply.
During the 2025/26 financial year ending June 2026, the Inner City Service Delivery Centre alone recorded 145 incidents of cable theft and vandalism. Across all seven Service Delivery Centres, City Power recorded 1 054 incidents of theft and vandalism during the same financial year.
While this reflects a slight decrease from the 1 138 incidents recorded during the 2024/25 financial year, the figures remain alarmingly high and demonstrate that infrastructure crime continues to pose one of the biggest threats to the stability of Johannesburg’s electricity network.
These incidents continue to consume millions of rand in unplanned expenditure, divert technical resources away from planned maintenance and network upgrades, prolong power outages and undermine the significant investments being made to improve the reliability of the city’s electricity infrastructure.
The growing trend is reflected in a series of incidents recorded over the past 18 months.
In February 2025, “we raised concern over the growing threat posed by organised criminal syndicates targeting underground electricity tunnels in the Inner City after a number of cable theft incidents disrupted supply and damaged critical infrastructure.
In March 2026, we again warned that infrastructure crime was placing severe pressure on Johannesburg’s electricity network after recording more than 100 infrastructure-related incidents during January 2026 and a further 73 incidents during the first three weeks of February 2026.
These incidents included cable theft, vandalism, theft of substation equipment and damage to critical electricity infrastructure across the city,” continued the press release.
On 19 July 2026, three suspects were arrested in Bree Street in the Johannesburg CBD after allegedly being found cutting underground City Power cable, once again highlighting the continued targeting of electricity infrastructure in the Inner City.
Just three days later, on 22 July 2026, it was reported that 19 infrastructure-related security incidents had been recorded across Johannesburg between 17 and 20 July 2026. These included eight confirmed cable theft incidents, two attempted cable thefts, acts of vandalism and infrastructure fires.
Preliminary losses from only five of those incidents exceeded R311 000, while the theft of approximately 400 metres of cable in Jeppestown was identified as the single largest cable theft recorded during that reporting period.
Taken together, these incidents demonstrate a persistent pattern of organised infrastructure crime that continues to place an unsustainable burden on our operations. Every cable theft results in prolonged outages, diverts technical resources from planned maintenance programmes, delays critical network upgrades and increases the cost of providing electricity to the residents and businesses of Johannesburg.
The consequences extend well beyond City Power.
Businesses lose productive trading hours and revenue, investment confidence is affected, customers endure prolonged power outages and communities are left without an essential service. Infrastructure crime is therefore not only an attack on electricity infrastructure, but also on Johannesburg’s economy and the quality of life of everyone who depends on a reliable electricity supply.
Acting Chief Executive Officer Charles Tlouane said the continued attacks on critical electricity infrastructure were undermining efforts to strengthen the electricity network and improve service delivery across Johannesburg.
“Every metre of cable stolen represents far more than the replacement cost of the material. It represents money that could have been invested in replacing ageing infrastructure, strengthening our network and improving the quality of service we provide to our customers. Instead, we are forced to redirect those resources towards repairing damage caused by criminality.”
“The scale of infrastructure crime remains deeply concerning. More than a thousand incidents of theft and vandalism were recorded across our network during the last financial year alone.
Although we have seen a slight reduction compared to the previous year, the current levels remain unacceptable and continue to place enormous pressure on our operations, our finances and our ability to invest in a more reliable electricity network.”
“What is often overlooked is that cable theft has a ripple effect across the entire city. It prolongs outages, disrupts businesses, affects livelihoods, delays infrastructure upgrades and weakens economic activity. Infrastructure crime is not a victimless offence.
Every resident, every business and every community ultimately pays the price.”
“We cannot win this battle alone. Protecting Johannesburg’s electricity infrastructure requires a collective effort from residents, businesses, community leaders, private security companies and law enforcement agencies.
We urge anyone who witnesses suspicious activity near electricity infrastructure to report it immediately before communities are left without power,” says Tlouane.
Protecting electricity infrastructure is a shared responsibility.
“We urge residents, businesses, property owners, community leaders and private security companies to report any suspicious activity near substations, transformers, underground electricity tunnels and cable routes before infrastructure is damaged and communities are left without electricity.”
Suspected cable theft, vandalism or any electricity-related criminal activity can be reported to:
• City Power Risk Control: 011 490 7911 / 011 490 7900
• WhatsApp: 083 597 4497
• Anonymous Tip-offs Hotline: 0800 002 587
