Johannesburg is grappling with prolonged power outages as City Power’s test-branch fleet reportedly remains grounded due to a payment dispute.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has raised an alarm about the situation, which reportedly stems from a payment dispute between the City of Johannesburg and Afrirent Fleet Management Company. According to reports, Afrirent claims the city owes it more than R90 million.

“With over 500 outages per depot still unresolved, grounding of essential vehicles has critically hampered the ability to restore power to residents across the city,” says Ward Councillor Nicole van Dyk, the DA’s Johannesburg Shadow MMC for Water, Power and Environment.

Grounding of almost 200 test-branch vehicles has resulted in outages lasting several days, leaving residents in distress, Van Dyk says.

In an appeal to Mayor Dada Morero, the DA has called for clarity on how the city intends to address the escalating outages.

City Power had not responded to requests from Energize for comment on the fleet grounding at the time of publishing. However, in a statement released on Monday, January 6, the utility acknowledged a surge in power outages across Johannesburg but attributed the delays to adverse weather conditions. “The heavy rainfall and resulting flooding, uprooted trees and damage to our electrical infrastructure, including underground cables, have placed immense pressure on our operations and caused response delays.”

Additional resources have been deployed and technicians and contractors on leave returned to ensure operational teams are fully staffed, added the utility. City Power also assured residents it has a “full stock of materials and other resources”. On social media platform X, City Power warned that ongoing inclement weather could further hinder its ability to restore power promptly.