Power failures plague Joburg, South Africa
“The network of Johannesburg is old and was meant for the original mining industry,” said City Power vice president Silas Zimu. But as the city boomed, with commercial and residential expansion, so did demand for electricity.

“Flattening one old Houghton property and building 20 townhouses means that there will be 20 stoves, 20 geysers, running on that property,” Zimu said. There was a huge demand for electricity with homeowners converting garages into cottages, working from home, shopping malls expanding, and clinics and schools being built, placing an enormous burden on the city’s power structure and the older narrow cables which have not all been replaced yet

“Electricity thieves”, mainly around Lenasia and Alexandra, make illegal connections which overload sub stations. The most brazen steal the whole sub-station, selling it for scrap. “I have put up a R10,000 reward to catch these people. Last week three people were arrested. They got R36 for the metal and caused an eight-hour outage,” said Zimu.