Joburg fast approaching the Rubicon of a system-wide collapse

While we welcome Joburg’s second brand new mayor Kabelo Gwamanda, it is clear he has his work cut out for him.

In his maiden speech yesterday, Gwamanda said his main goal was to improve the quality of service to the city’s residents.

Joburg City Power, with its R9.1 billion overdraft, would be a good place to start as the utility buckles under the strain of keeping the lights on.

ALSO READ: Joburg City Power: Broke and loss-making, with a grid on the brink

There are few areas in the city which, hammered by a four-hour load shedding stretch, have not suffered another extended blackout immediately following the load shedding, sometimes for up to 60 hours.

City Power says 60 transformers have reached the end of their life and must be replaced, with a further 73 needing to be replaced in the next five to 10 years.

With its current funding allocation, it is only refurbishing three to five transformers a year. Current liabilities (R10.45 billion) exceed current assets (R3.5 billion), leaving it in penury.

If City Power were a private business, creditors would have squeezed it for its last drop of blood, but because it is an entity of the City of Joburg, it is ratepayers who will pay. This is by no means the fault of the men and women on the ground who toil at night, in the rain and under threat by those who steal electricity, but rather at the ongoing bad management of the utility.

ALSO READ: City Power blames Eskom and load shedding for high outages

Yes, the substations were never meant to be in an extended on again, off again manner which is contributing to the extended shutdowns. Yes, thieves stealing actual substations and cables isn’t helping either.

This city is fast approaching the Rubicon of a system-wide collapse much like that Eskom is facing. Time is short, as is electricity. The time for bumbling about in the dark with what is supposed to be South Africa’s biggest economy has to come to an end.

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