*TO: City Power Johannesburg, Executive Mayor of Johannesburg, MMC for Environment & Infrastructure Services, and City of Johannesburg Council*

We, the residents, business owners, and ratepayers of Roodepoort, demand immediate transparency, accountability, and a concrete plan to fix our collapsing electricity infrastructure.

For months, suburbs across Roodepoort — including Weltevreden Park, Panorama, Constantia Kloof, Allen’s Nek, Wilgeheuwel, Strubens Valley, Honeydew, Ruimsig, Witpoortjie, Florida and surrounding areas — have suffered repeated, prolonged outages. Some lasting 4 days or more.

City Power’s official responses are always the same:

1. “Ageing infrastructure” — much of it over 50 years old

 

2. “Lack of staff / technicians to carry out repairs”

 

3. “Cable theft and vandalism”

 

We no longer accept excuses without a plan.

*We are paying. But we are left in the dark.* According to City Power’s own data, Roodepoort Service Delivery Centre consistently carries over 200 open outage calls at a time, with 94% of residents in many Roodepoort wards confirmed as paying customers. City Power itself admits it has an infrastructure backlog of over R40 billion but only R1 billion budget for repairs and maintenance. 3d12fe08eed8

If there is a shortage of high-voltage technicians, as confirmed by City of Joburg councillors, we ask: 

*How can you claim a lack of employees in a country with a 32%+ unemployment crisis? Why are critical vacancies not being filled, upskilled, and prioritized over backdated payments and bureaucracy?*

*We Demand:*

*1. A Public Explanation & Infrastructure Audit*
Publish a full status report for the Roodepoort SDC within 30 days: Age and condition of the Panorama Switching Station, JG Strydom Switching Station, and other critical substations, and why Ward 89’s petition to replace Panorama station has not been acted on.

*2. A Funded, Time-Bound Repair and Replacement Plan*
Stop telling us about “plans subject to funding approval.” Show us the plan, the budget, and the timeline for cable replacement and switching station upgrades in Roodepoort.

*3. Transparency on Rates and Taxes*
We demand public transparency on where our rates, taxes, and electricity revenue are allocated. How much collected in Roodepoort is reinvested back into Roodepoort’s infrastructure?

*4. Staffing Solution*
Immediate recruitment, training and deployment plan to fill the EEBU and technician vacancies. Partner with TVET colleges and local unemployed youth if necessary — the skills exist in South Africa.

This is not just about inconvenience. Prolonged outages put vulnerable residents who rely on medical equipment at risk, destroy small businesses, damage appliances, and leave streets dark and unsafe.

We are not refusing to pay. We are refusing to be ignored.

*Sign this petition if you live, work, or own property in Roodepoort and you demand lights that stay on.*