Last week the City of Johannesburg officials started cutting off electricity supply to government departments because of non-payment of their bills. It has now transpired that City Power is owed R754 208 747.00. The same situation exists at Johannesburg Water, where government departments owe the City in excess of R600 million.
More worrying is the fact that the City's debtors' book has climbed to R71 billion. This is what residents, businesses and other organisations owe the city in unpaid services, rates and taxes.
Executive mayor Dada Morero, speaking at one of the government disconnection sites, said all customers of the City, including government institutions, have a responsibility to honour their municipal obligations in full and on time.
He said the City was launching an aggressive campaign to recover the money owed by government departments and state entities, with a large-scale service disconnection drive. Power was cut at a Cogta facility, health department buildings and an attempt was made to cut the power at the Johannesburg High Court. CoJ workers could not access the building though.
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The list of non-paying government and parastatal institutions not paying their bills was included in the Quarter 2 (October to December 2025) reports from Johannesburg Water and City Power tabled at a council meeting on Monday (March 30).
Water payment culprits:
These departments owed JW the following at the end of December 2025:
Department of Health - R106 637 895.00
Housing - R40 518 196.00
Education - R268 997 142,00
Infrastructure Development - R90 778 033
Correctional services - R27 411 736.00
Department of Defence - R679 791.00
Finance - R442 614.00
Justice - R406 703.00
These parastatals have not paid JW:
Transnet - R43 181 139.00
Prasa - R40 243 594.00
Eskom - R47 135 070.00
Sanral - R1 868 026.00
Spoornet (Transnet) - R3 402 988.00
SAPO - R103 125.00
Telkom - R3 506 159.00
Other entities - R2 175 105.00
Grand total: R677 487 316.00
Many other these departments are ageing debtors, with outstanding accounts older than 91 days. These include:
Education - R131 450 779.00
Health - R7 099 092.00
Infrastructure Development - R59 576 638.00
Housing - R33 076 377.00
Correctional Services - R199 034.00
Public Works - R16 530 626.00
Department of Defence - R323 614.00
Justice - R256 128.00
Grand total: R248 512 288.00
Ageing parastatal debts:
Eskom - R22 347 111.00
Transnet - R42 283 029.00
Prasa - R30 269 382.00
Other entities - R3 762 292.00
Spoornet - R3 315 495.00
Telkom - R2 354 257.00
Sanral - R708 972.00
SAPO - R79 590.00
SABC - R26 777.00
Grand total: R105 146 904.00
Electricity payment culprits at the end of December 2025:
National Departments - Public Works owes R9 977 414.00
Gauteng Provincial Departments:
Intersettlement - JPC - R247 512.00
Education - R6 626 814.00
Health - R7 608 520.00
Housing - R15 223 067.00
Transport - R234 573.00
Infrastructure Development - R5 560 663.00
Grand total: R45 478 563.00
Amounts owed by parastatals to City Power:
Eskom - R702 366 039.00
Telkom - R3 334 052.00
Transnet - R3 030 096.00
Grand total: R708 730 187.00
The City Power quarterly report notes (without any sense of irony) that Eskom is the biggest contributor to the monies owed to the City. The power utility explained this related to network services rendered by City Power to Eskom over and extended period. "City Power and Eskom have a long-standing arrangement at the Lunar Intake Substation," said CP spokesman Isaac Mangena.
While Eskom supplies bulk electricity to City Power at high voltage at this point, City Power in turn steps down that electricity and uses its own distribution infrastructure to wheel power on behalf of Eskom to its end customers in areas such as Finetown and Laksman and others.
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"This constitutes a service for which City Power is entitled to be compensated. The amount in question has accumulated over time in relation to these services," Mangena said.
JW brings in about R11.9 billion annually from its customers. City Power's financial position for October to December last year reflects a significant deterioration year-on-year, with the deficit after tax worsening by R869 million. This performance trajectory indicates ongoing structural challenges in revenue collection and cost containment at the entity, the report noted. City Power currently is R19 billion in the red.
How the city treats residents and their accounts
Ordinary residents of Johannesburg receive a pre-termination notice (a formal warning) for an account that is more than 30 days in arrears, notifying them of pending electricity or water disconnection. These notices are designed to warn users that their services will be cut if arrears are not settled, or a payment arrangement is not made, within a specified "reasonable period" (minimum 14 days). A fee of approximately R251.54, based on 2019/2020 CoJ documents, is levied on the consumer's account for the delivery of the notice.
- This story first appeared in Sunday Times
