Joburg City Power will launch a series of regional Electricity Imbizos aimed at strengthening engagement with customers and addressing long-standing electricity service delivery challenges.
The initiative begins in Alexandra on Tuesday, 18 August 2026, and forms part of a two-month programme of weekly community engagements across the city.
According to City Power, the Electricity Imbizos are intended to rebuild the utility’s relationship with residents by providing a direct platform for communities to raise concerns, receive updates on ongoing interventions, and work with officials to find practical solutions to electricity-related problems.
The first Imbizo follows a recent visit by Acting City Power Chief Executive Officer Charles Tlouane to Alexandra, where he met councillors, operational teams and community leaders.
The visit identified several major challenges affecting electricity supply, including network overloading, illegal connections, meter tampering, vandalism, theft of infrastructure and growing pressure from informal settlements and backyard dwellings.
City Power revealed that Alexandra has approximately 40,000 registered electricity customers, yet only around 1,600 are actively purchasing electricity, representing about four percent of registered users. The utility said this places significant strain on the electricity network while limiting revenue needed to maintain and improve infrastructure.
Tlouane said the Imbizos are designed to promote open dialogue and shared responsibility between City Power and residents.
“These Imbizos are about rebuilding the relationship between City Power and our customers through direct engagement, listening and action,” he said.
During the engagements, residents will have the opportunity to speak directly with City Power leadership and technical teams. Feedback gathered will help shape follow-up interventions, including ward-based service delivery initiatives, network normalisation programmes, Free Basic Electricity registrations, operations targeting illegal connections and revenue collection campaigns.
The City of Johannesburg’s Executive Mayor, Cllr Dada Morero, together with relevant Members of the Mayoral Committee, will also be invited to participate in the regional engagements as part of efforts to strengthen accountability and collaboration with communities.
Why Alexandra first?
City Power said Alexandra currently consumes electricity costing approximately R250 million per month, while only about R29 million in electricity revenue is collected from the area.
The utility believes greater public participation, responsible electricity usage and improved payment levels are essential to creating a reliable and financially sustainable electricity network.
The regional Electricity Imbizos will continue across Johannesburg over the coming weeks as City Power seeks to improve customer engagement and ensure that community concerns directly influence future service delivery priorities.
