As the city of Johannesburg attempts to recover over R10 billion owed, it has launched a dramatic crackdown on electricity defaulters. Summit is one of Hillbrow's busiest nightspots. The club has gone dark due to an unpaid electricity bill totaling R2.6 million.
The shutdown was part of a larger operation that also targeted a shopping complex with residential flats, all of which owed nearly R25 million, highlighting the scale of nonpayment in Johannesburg's inner city.
On Tuesday, January 13, City Power, alongside EMS and the Building Control Unit, carried out targeted inspections and disconnections along Claim, Esselen, and Edith Cavell streets in Hillbrow. The operation, part of the city’s High-Impact Service Delivery Programme, aims to enforce compliance, recover outstanding revenue, and safeguard critical electricity infrastructure.
City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena explained that Summit is treated as a business customer and has exploited loopholes to avoid payment.
“They’ve got two accounts, two meters. What they’ve done is owe R2.6 million on one account, and when they realised they couldn’t pay, they opened another account with the city. Currently, they are paying on the new account, not the one that’s owing,” Mangena said.
Mangena stressed that the enforcement is part of City Power’s wider mission to clamp down on non-payment, illegal connections, and electricity-related crime, with the utility pushing to recover over R10 billion owed to the city, including around R3.2 billion in the inner city, to protect the power grid and ensure law-abiding customers are not unfairly penalised.
He added that City Power will consolidate the accounts to ensure the debt is settled.
“We have switched them off. They need to pay at least 50%, about R1.3 million, before we can switch them back on. They are currently running on a generator, but we will continue to intensify. Our team will return later to make sure they do not reconnect themselves and to show that we keep them in the dark until they pay their money.
“This is the money we need because these are the customers that, when power goes off and we don’t have meters or cables or transformers, are the loudest. We want this money so we can reinvest it in our operations to keep the lights on in the City of Johannesburg,” he added.
The inspections also uncovered multiple hijacked and illegally occupied buildings, including residential and commercial properties previously linked to unlawful electricity connections. A block of flats with more than 30 units, disconnected in November 2025 following the removal of illegal connections, remains without electricity. In another building, occupants were found to be paying rent while the property owner had failed to pay rates, taxes, and electricity accounts.
The Star
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