City Power Pulls Plug in Hostile Areas After Staff Held Hostage

Johannesburg’s power utility faces mounting safety threats as intimidation, hostage-taking, and illegal connections spiral out of control

Tensions between frustrated residents and Johannesburg’s electricity provider have reached a boiling point. City Power has officially suspended electricity services to parts of Midrand and Roodepoort after staff were repeatedly held hostage, threatened, and attacked while carrying out their duties.

What was once a service issue has become a public safety crisis.

Utility staff no longer feel safe

City Power CEO Tshifularo Mashava is drawing a hard line: no job is worth a life. Following a string of violent incidents, including a hostage situation in Florida and a mob blockade in Midrand, the utility has been forced to withdraw its teams from Kanana Extensions 4 and 5.

“These acts of lawlessness are not only criminal, but also jeopardise our ability to deliver services to those who need them most,” Mashava said in a statement. “No employee should be forced to work under the fear of being attacked.”

The CEO made it clear: service delivery will only resume once staff safety is guaranteed.

Hostage in Florida over unpaid R56,000 bill

On Thursday morning, a City Power contractor was assaulted and held against his will at a Florida home while performing a routine meter audit and disconnection.

The customer allegedly became violent when confronted with a municipal arrears balance of over R56,000, locked the gates, and threatened the technician with a firearm. The victim was eventually released, but no charges have yet been filed.

“This technician was following standard procedure. He should never have had to fear for his life,” said City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena.

Illegal mini-utility busted in Roodepoort

Just a day earlier, in nearby Tshepisong, City Power assisted by Johannesburg Metro Police, shut down a clandestine power distribution network illegally supplying electricity to informal homes using underground and overhead cables.

An entire community had been drawing power from a single house, turning one homeowner into a backyard electricity kingpin.

Over 250kg of illegal cabling was confiscated, and the suspect remains at large.

Kanana service centre under siege

In Midrand’s Kanana area, tensions exploded when residents physically blocked the Midrand Service Delivery Centre, preventing technicians from attending to power faults.

A team had been scheduled to fix overhead faults during the day, but mob interference halted all operations across the ward.

“It’s not just one area,” Mangena said. “From Rabie Ridge to Mayibuye to Klipfontein, our staff are being intimidated citywide.”

What’s really behind the rising tensions?

While community frustration is understandable in the face of unreliable electricity, the real culprits are illegal connections, low prepaid meter compliance, and overloaded networks.

Many of the areas seeing the worst backlash are also “non-normalised”, they haven’t yet transitioned to smart prepaid meters, and resistance to that rollout is making an already stressed system worse.

Mangena says City Power has been engaging with local leaders to help communities understand the risks of illegal connections and the value of structured billing.

Zero tolerance for threats or sabotage

From violent customer reactions to organised electricity theft, City Power is facing a complex web of threats and the utility says it’s had enough.

“We cannot put our staff in harm’s way,” Mashava reiterated. “These communities need power, but they also need to allow us to fix things safely and legally.”

City Power is calling on residents to report suspicious activity and promises that services will return, only when it’s safe to do so.

This is more than a billing dispute. Johannesburg is facing a deeper problem: a growing disconnect between essential service delivery and the rule of law.

Until communities, government and law enforcement come together to protect utility workers, areas like Kanana may remain in the dark, literally and figuratively.

For now, City Power is choosing safety over service. And for the technicians risking their lives just to keep the lights on, that decision couldn’t come soon enough.