City Power acting CEO Charles Tlouane has outlined plans to spend R62m to improve electricity supply in the Hursthill Service Delivery Centre area of Johannesburg. The investment aims to address challenges caused by ageing infrastructure, faulty equipment, and illegal connections. The Hursthill centre serves 46,141 customers across 11 wards in the north and west of Johannesburg, including households, businesses, and large power users.
Between July and September, the Hursthill centre recorded 3,574 electricity-related logged calls, with 3,393 resolved and 191 outstanding. Tlouane made the announcement during City Power's sixth Electricity Imbizo in Noordgesig, where residents had an opportunity to engage with the utility about electricity-related concerns. The event provided an update on the state of the electricity network, ongoing outages, and infrastructure projects aimed at improving power supply reliability.
The Hursthill Service Delivery Centre is responsible for seven substations and five switching stations, as well as the distribution network connecting electricity to customers. A significant portion of customers, 26,033, use prepaid electricity. To improve network reliability, several projects are planned for the Hursthill supply area. These include the replacement of high-voltage isolators, control cables, and the neutral earthing compensator at Industria Substation, estimated to cost R4m.
Additional projects include relocating a transmission tower in the park next to Fifth Street, which has been affected by flooding, and diverting the Delta-to-Orlando transmission line to a new tower outside the watercourse, estimated to cost R6m. Work at the Pennyville high-voltage switchyard is expected to be completed by the end of March 2027, with the remaining work estimated at R50m. This includes relocating transmission lines, completing equipment at the switchyard, and connecting lines to new equipment.
Further protection, monitoring, and power-system upgrades are planned at several substations, including Hursthill, Beyers, Parkhurst, and Rosebank, as well as the former RAU Campus and the SABC switching station. These projects are expected to start later this month and be completed by June 2027, at an estimated cost of R62m. The upgrades include new protection equipment, remote monitoring systems, and improvements to power systems.
City Power also plans to improve public lighting, including the installation of 25 solar high-mast lights and the replacement of 200 luminaires through an LED retrofit project. The utility says improved lighting will support safer movement for residents, motorists, and businesses after dark. However, cable theft, vandalism, and illegal connections remain major challenges for the electricity network, with several incidents recorded in the first quarter.
City Power has also highlighted the issue of outstanding debt, with customers across the City of Johannesburg owing about R13.3bn to City Power as of June 2026. Within the Hursthill SDC alone, outstanding debt stood at approximately R2.2bn. The utility encourages residents to report suspicious activity around electricity infrastructure and urges customers to keep their accounts up to date to support network maintenance and infrastructure investment.
Key points
- City Power to invest R62m in upgrading power infrastructure in Johannesburg's Hursthill area.
- The investment aims to address challenges caused by ageing infrastructure, faulty equipment, and illegal connections.
- Outstanding debt of R2.2bn in the Hursthill area affects City Power's ability to maintain and improve the electricity network.
