By Tumelo Khotha
Johannesburg’s persistent power outages fuelled by rampant cable theft have forced several local businesses to close their doors.
Among those hardest hit are butcheries which have been left with no choice but to discard spoiled meat resulting in devastating financial losses.
Ibrahim Mota owner of Daizy Choice said that while they try to run generators during power failures the cost of petrol is unsustainable.
“We end up with no choice but to cut staff and let people go which is a decision we never intended to make,” said Mota.
Lance Okafor owner of Wholesale Meat Butchery shared a similar struggle noting that the blackouts have cost him a fortune.
“I tried to avoid a huge loss of stock but none of the plans I made worked out,” he said.
Okafor’s attempts to rely on generators ultimately failed when an outage dragged on for more than three weeks. He noted that while businesses can survive the first two weeks of darkness a three-week outage is a breaking point.
City Power Acting CEO Charles Tlouane explained that the cable theft is highly organised. He stated that syndicates walk kilometres between buildings in commercial hubs and use vehicles including Toyota Quantum taxis to pull the cables out and haul them away.
Tlouane believes technology is the key to combating the issue. “If we have sensors where these syndicates are stealing it will trigger an immediate response,” he said.
He added that while each city has its own strategy politicians and local communities must work together to protect infrastructure.
According to Tlouane City Power has conducted an assessment and established a clear hierarchy for restoring power. The utility will prioritise businesses first to protect local livelihoods and jobs before moving on to residential areas once commercial zones are stable. He said City Power will also provide transparent updates on which sectors have been successfully reconnected.
Democratic Alliance Joburg Caucus Leader Councillor Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku warned that enterprises across the city are now weighing whether to relocate entirely.
“It’s not just businesses suffering. Individual households can expect to wait ten days or more before being attended to,” said Kayser-Echeozonjoku.
“If your house loses power you can wait almost a week and a half in a queue before anyone responds.”
She concluded that the city’s failure to pay contractors directly threatens utility jobs while the resulting prolonged outages put employment across all of Johannesburg at serious risk.
