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City of Johannesburg Settles R5.25 Billion Overdue Electricity Debt

Eskom has today received the final payment from the City of Johannesburg/City Power (CoJ/CP) to settle in full the accumulated overdue electricity debt of R5 255 421 994.16.

The CoJ/CP has confirmed to Eskom that the current account in respect of July 2026, that falls due on 31 August 2026, of R1 860 379 885 will be paid on its due date. The CoJ/CP has further confirmed that it remains committed to the payment of all future current accounts on or before their respective due dates.

“Eskom’s financial sustainability and its ability to supply electricity at affordable prices, as well as to support the delivery of a reformed, competitive market, is dependent upon its ability to improve its balance sheet by increasing revenue and reducing expenses,” said Eskom’s Group Executive Distribution, Junaid Munshi.

“We value the City of Johannesburg as a customer and we remain committed to a stable working relationship for the benefit of its residents and in turn, the economy, and our country. We acknowledge the role of the Minister of Electricity and Energy in facilitating the establishment of the task team comprising leadership from the COJ, City Power and Eskom that throughout has maintained an uninterrupted electricity supply to the residents and businesses of Johannesburg,” concluded Munshi.

On 17 May 2026, following the accumulation of overdue electricity debt amounting to R5 255 421 994.16 by the City of Johannesburg/City Power (CoJ/CP), Eskom was compelled to issue a notice of its intention to reduce, interrupt and/or terminate electricity supply to certain bulk supply points, thereby initiating a process in terms of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA).

Due to the entity settling the accumulated overdue electricity debt in full, Eskom has withdrawn the PAJA process.

Eskom will continue to collaborate with the City and all stakeholders to achieve a lasting solution that safeguards the financial viability and reliability of South Africa’s electricity supply industry.

Courtesy of Eskom

About Eskom and Electricity – Nuclear Energy: Two nuclear power stations (Koeberg) contribute about 5% of the total generation.

Source – MyZA

Free Johannesburg Press Release Submissions from MyPR.co.za

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The Randlord Mansions: History

The history of these mansions is also a story of urban warfare and preservation. In the 1960s and 70s, as Johannesburg expanded, many of the original Parktown estates were ruthlessly demolished to make way for the M1 Highway and the massive concrete campus of the Wits University Medical School. The “Parktown War” saw heritage activists fighting the bulldozers to save what remained of the city’s architectural soul. Today, several of the surviving mansions serve as corporate headquarters, schools, or museums, stripped of their private domesticity but preserved as monuments to a gilded age.

Interestingly, these mansions also played a secret role in the city’s political evolution. It was in the drawing rooms of Parktown that the “progressive” mining elite would meet to discuss the future of the country, often finding themselves at odds with the more conservative Boer government. Lady Florence Phillips, in particular, used her influence to found the Johannesburg Art Gallery, insisting that a world-class city needed world-class culture, not just gold bars. Today, walking the “Heritage Trail” through Parktown offers a haunting contrast; you stand in the quiet, manicured gardens of the victors, looking down at the pulsing, crowded city that their gold mines created. It is the ultimate “view from the top,” a reminder that the extreme wealth of Sandton today has its DNA rooted in the stone-and-timber palaces of the 1900s.