Ald Cilliers Brink
DA Tshwane Mayoral Candidate
By Ald Cilliers Brink
DA Tshwane Mayoral Candidate
As schools are set to open tomorrow, thousands of households in the Tshwane
Metro still do not have electricity. Some of these households have been without power since 2025.
In response to the growing crisis, Cilliers Brink, the DA’s Mayoral Candidate, will today be visiting affected communities alongside ward Councillors, to support residents and assess the scale of the failures on the ground.
The deteriorating condition of Tshwane’s electricity grid has been significantly aggravated by a complete absence of leadership from the Mayor of Tshwane, Comrade Nasiphi Moya, and her Member of the Mayoral Committee for Utility Services, Frans Boishelo.
The management of Tshwane’s electricity department has been slow and indecisive, particularly in relation to the replacement of an irreparable cable supplying electricity to East Lynne from the Koedoespoort substation.
Had this decision been taken at the outset, electricity supply could have been restored within days of the substation fire.
Instead, prolonged indecision has resulted in significant work backlogs across the central and eastern parts of Pretoria, compounding outages across multiple regions.
At the same time, communication to Ward Councillors has been patchy, incomplete, and in some cases entirely inaccurate, leaving councillors unable to give residents clear or reliable information during a period of acute hardship.
Below is a summary of some of the areas that suffer extended blackouts on the eve of schools opening:
– Glen
– Olympus
– Garsfontein
– Eersterust
– Waltloo
– Sunnyside
– Queenswood
– Brooklyn
– Colbyn
– Wonderboom South
– Arcadia
– Menlo Park
– Riviera
– Mayville
– Waverley
– Groenkloof
– Rietfontein
– Gezina
– Bergtuin
– Swacina Park
– Sunset View
This does not include numerous single and localised outages across the metro that are not being attended to timeously, due to the severe strain on electricity teams.
It would be a mistake to attribute these outages solely to aging infrastructure or Tshwane’s financial position.
The current crisis has been materially worsened by deliberate political choices made by Tshwane’s ANC-led coalition.
In the February 2025 adjustment budget, hundreds of millions of rand were redirected away from water and electricity maintenance, in favour of increased spending on water tankers and private security contracts.
One of the beneficiaries of this increased security spending is a company owned by the ANC’s Deputy Mayor, Bonzo Modise.
Despite this shift in spending priorities, cable theft and vandalism of electricity infrastructure have worsened, demonstrating that there has been no value for money in diverting resources away from core electricity maintenance.
At the same time, key electricity infrastructure upgrades planned for the 2024/25 financial year were defunded, accelerating the structural weakening of Tshwane’s electricity grid.
The consequences for residents and businesses are severe.
Businesses are unable to operate, smallholdings are without water because boreholes require electricity, and elderly residents dependent on medical equipment such as oxygen concentrators are placed at direct risk.
Just as residents are required to comply with norms and standards when paying for municipal services, a municipality is legally obliged to comply with norms and standards when delivering those services.
Tshwane’s failure to respond appropriately to the current electricity crisis has prompted the DA to write formally to NERSA, placing on record that the City of Tshwane may be in breach of its licence conditions as an electricity distributor, particularly with regard to reliability, response times, and customer communication.
In addition, the DA will:
Call for an independent forensic and technical investigation into repeated substation fires, including the Koedoespoort incident, to determine root causes, accountability failures, and whether negligence or procurement lapses played a role.
Launch a public petition demanding the full refunding of water and electricity maintenance budgets in the February 2026 adjustment budget, to reverse the damage caused by reckless political reprioritisation.
DA councillors will continue assisting households as best we can and will follow up on every commitment made by City officials.
However, unless there is a fundamental change in leadership and approach, further action will be pursued to hold the municipality accountable for failing to meet its legal and regulatory obligations.
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