Hours before delivering his 2026 state of the city (Soca) speech, the mayor of Johannesburg, Dada Mororo, was frantically trying to resolve a debt dispute between the City of Johannesburg and Eskom, which threatened to plunge the city into darkness.
On Tuesday, Eskom issued a notice warning the City of Johannesburg (COJ) that it would be disconnected from the grid for failing to meet its debt repayments. According to Eskom, the city owes R5.25 billion. This amount excludes a current account, which is due on 5 June 2026.
“Eskom has been working with CoJ and/or City Power (CP) for over two years to support the metro in meeting its payment obligations. As a result of CoJ/CP’s continued failure to honour its Electricity Supply Agreement with Eskom, including repeated defaults, Eskom has been forced to issue a notice of its intention to reduce, interrupt and/or terminate the supply of electricity to certain bulk supply points against the City of Johannesburg and City Power.
“Eskom maintains it simply cannot be acceptable to the City’s residents and all South Africans that COJ/CP is collecting electricity revenue but failing to pay over Eskom’s share,” said Eskom.
This is the second time in a matter of weeks that a government institution has complained about the City of Johannesburg’s failure to meet its financial obligations on time.
ANC demands urgent meeting
The Citizen understands that Morero had been on calls with Eskom officials hours before he delivered the Soca, trying to resolve the matter. He is expected to touch on the crisis in his speech to residents on Wednesday afternoon.
His party, the ANC, has also called for urgent engagements between its deployed members in the council and Eskom.
Regional secretary, Sasa Manganye, told The Citizen that the ANC has already engaged the minister of Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, who has agreed to meet with the mayor and his team to resolve the matter.
Manganye said the city must reach a new agreement with Eskom on how it will repay past debt.
“The current agreement is unsustainable, and it’s not realistic. What the City must do is come up with another one, and they must be able to honour it,” he said.
Manganye said that there should be a harmonious working relationship between City Power and Eskom.
“These are both government agencies, and they exist to serve the public, so they must work with each other and not against each other,” he said.
Manganye described the matter as urgent and said the ANC expected a report back from its deployees in two weeks.
CEO of civil society organisation Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA), Wayne Duvenage, told The Citizen it would be interesting to see how Morero navigates the crisis in his speech, and beyond.
“We think the Eskom development is a pertinent issue when it comes to the state of the city’s financial hygiene and general management of its affairs.
“The stage for provincial intervention into the CoJ’s affairs was long overdue, and one gathers that the close political relationships and lack of leadership by [Gauteng Premier] Panyaza Lesufi and his cohorts have a lot to do with their inaction.
“We are pleased at the National Treasury’s intervention, which is long overdue, not only in the provision of assistance, but more so in holding current leadership to account.”
Lack of transparency from the City
DA caucus leader in the City of Johannesburg, Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku, told The Citizen on Tuesday that it is unfortunate that another government agency has warned the City of Johannesburg about the poor state of its financial administration.
“The DA has consistently raised concerns about the deteriorating financial position of the City, yet these warnings were ignored. The fact that Section 79 committee meetings, which are responsible for oversight, have been cancelled on more than one occasion demonstrates the complete lack of transparency within this administration.
“Residents should not bear the brunt of the failures of the ANC-led administration while service delivery continues to collapse,” said Kayser-Echeozonjoku.
