In a move aimed at improving electricity service, City Power in Johannesburg has announced a six-hour power interruption across several suburbs on Saturday, 26 April 2025.
The planned outage will occur from 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM as part of regular maintenance to ensure better and more reliable service in the future.
Affected Suburbs
The following Johannesburg suburbs will be impacted by the power cut:
- Yeast Pro Number 1 and 2
- Watt Street
- Parson Street
- Bunsen Street South
- Breweries Riverlea
- Riverlea
- Eastern Industria
- Bosmont Maraisburg
- Industria North
- Bunsen Street
- Slovo Crosby Number 1 and 2
- Lowethal Industrial West
- Longdale
- George Scott
- Springbok Street
- Telford Street
- Paarlshop
- Nobel Street
- Slovo Crosby
- Maraisburg Road
- Vega Street Number 1, 2, and 3
- Industria South
Residents in these areas should plan accordingly for the scheduled outage.
South Africa’s New Traded Electricity Market
South Africa is also taking steps to address its ongoing electricity challenges.
After years of dependence on Eskom Holdings for power, the country has recently launched a traded electricity market, now open to licensed traders.
This initiative, backed by Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), aims to improve electricity supply by increasing competition and efficiency in the market.
This move comes after a series of mismanagement issues and underinvestment, which led to the country’s worsening power shortages and record outages in 2023.
The situation has been exacerbated by persistent load shedding, leaving many South Africans without power for hours on end.
The Price Surge and Transmission Network Challenges
In addition to the ongoing power issues, the cost of electricity in South Africa has skyrocketed over the past decade.
Between 2008 and 2023, electricity prices increased by more than eight times, while inflation sat at 215%.
The country’s strained transmission network has hindered the growth of renewable energy plants, which could potentially help alleviate the power crisis.
As part of the solution, international experts are being brought in to strengthen the country’s technical capacity in managing transmission lines and supporting the national grid.
Judy Kobus, head of infrastructure sector solutions at RMB, noted, “We are also crowding in international players who are very experienced on the technical side of transmission lines.”
Will the Traded Electricity Market Solve South Africa’s Power Woes?
While the new electricity market is seen as a step in the right direction, the question remains: will it be enough to address South Africa’s chronic power shortages?
The innovation aims to introduce more competition and efficiency, but it will take time to see if it can effectively resolve the country’s energy crisis.
