97% of Tshepisong’s 12k electricity customers not paying legally, City Power says
· Citizen
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.
Visit sportbet.rodeo for more information.
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 deliberately trip feeders.
Sabotage forces total withdrawal
City Power said continued sabotage and unlawful reconnections, including of infrastructure that had not yet been commissioned, had put lives at risk and made it unsafe for technicians to keep working in the area.
The utility said it had maintained daily engagement with the ward councillor and community leaders, including a meeting shortly before the withdrawal decision was taken, where the conditions for safe energisation were reaffirmed.
Mangena said the decision was not intended to punish law-abiding residents.
“It is a necessary intervention to protect employees, safeguard public infrastructure and ensure that further investment is not immediately destroyed through unlawful activities.”
He said technical teams would return once conditions improved.
“Technical teams will return to Tshepisong once there is sufficient evidence of community cooperation, compliance with the normalisation process, achievement of the required 80% vending threshold and a commitment to protecting electricity infrastructure from illegal activities.”