DA takes Tshwane to Nersa as residents reach breaking point over power outages

DA takes Tshwane to Nersa as residents reach breaking point over power outages

For thousands of Pretoria households, the festive season came and went in the dark and the frustration hasn’t eased with the new year.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it will formally approach the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa), accusing the City of Tshwane of failing to meet its legal obligations to provide a reliable electricity supply. The move follows weeks of rolling outages that residents say have upended daily life, ruined food supplies and battered already strained household finances.

More than 5,000 residents have now added their names to a DA-led petition demanding urgent action.

Petition gathers momentum across Pretoria

The DA launched its city-wide petition last week, pointing to prolonged outages, ageing infrastructure and what it describes as slow and ineffective responses from the city.

According to the party, 5,466 residents have already signed in support.

Tshwane mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink said the outages are not isolated incidents but part of a broader failure that threatens jobs, small businesses and economic stability.

“This city is in breach of its Nersa licence conditions,” Brink said, adding that the DA’s complaint will be submitted under Section 32 of the Energy Regulation Act. He said the submission would include documented reports from councillors and affected residents.

East Lynne becomes a flashpoint

Few areas capture the scale of frustration quite like East Lynne, where residents endured repeated blackouts stretching back to November.

Brink described the outages over the December holiday period as the longest residents have experienced in recent memory, with electricity going on and off, but mostly off from 26 December.

For residents like Yolande Fourie, the experience was exhausting and costly.

“We were without power for 16 days over the festive season,” she said. “And when it came back, it only stayed on briefly.”

She described losing food meant to last through January, a month already known for financial pressure.

“It’s January. Everyone knows what month it is,” Fourie said. “What about people with no backup power who’ve had to throw away meat again and again?”

Even after electricity returned, she said new problems surfaced, including low water pressure. “You just can’t stay ahead,” she added.

City points to ageing infrastructure

The City of Tshwane has acknowledged the ongoing disruptions, linking the repeated outages in East Lynne and nearby areas to a fire at the Koedoespoort substation on 26 December.

MMC for Utility Services Frans Boshielo said while the substation itself was repaired, the incident placed heavy strain on an ageing 15km distribution cable feeding multiple mini-substations.

“This cable supplies a wide network and has developed several weakened sections,” Boshielo explained. Each repair, he said, risks triggering another failure once the system is under load which explains why electricity may return briefly before tripping again.

City teams and contractors have remained in the area since late December, working to identify faults and stabilise supply.

“The city is doing everything possible to reduce further interruptions while longer-term solutions are assessed,” Boshielo said.

A deeper problem years in the making

The crisis has once again highlighted the long-standing issue of infrastructure neglect in Tshwane. Fires at substations, ageing cables and delayed maintenance have become familiar headlines for Pretoria residents.

Earlier this month, Tshwane mayor Nasiphi Moya announced renewed investment at the Wapadrand substation, including refurbishment and upgrades following severe fire damage in 2021. The work forms part of a broader plan to stabilise electricity supply along the eastern corridor.

But for residents, patience is wearing thin.

Public anger spills onto social media

Across social platforms, residents have shared photos of spoiled food, dark streets and damaged appliances. Many have questioned how outages of this scale can persist without clearer timelines or compensation.

Some residents have welcomed the DA’s move to involve Nersa, saying national oversight may be the only way to force lasting solutions.

What happens next?

The DA’s complaint to Nersa could prompt regulatory scrutiny into whether Tshwane is complying with the conditions of its electricity licence. While such processes take time, the pressure is mounting for both immediate relief and long-term infrastructure reform.

For now, residents remain cautiously hopeful, but deeply sceptical.

As Fourie put it: “Under the circumstances, it’s getting better. But we don’t get excited too quickly.”