Power restoration racket preys on desperate Joburg residents

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JEREMY MAGGS: Johannesburg’s electricity crisis may now be feeding a criminal economy.

A Daily Maverick investigation details allegations that infrastructure is now being deliberately sabotaged, components stolen, and desperate residents then pressured to pay private operators to have their power restored.

Now is this simply opportunistic crime or an organised racket exploiting the collapse of City Power? Someone who’s done excellent work in that respect, investigative journalist at the Daily Maverick, Anna Cox, welcome to you.

So is the sense here that infrastructure is being deliberately broken so residents can be charged to have it repaired? If that’s the case, it’s outrageous.

ANNA COX: Yes, Jeremy, it’s quite serious. I think it’s a bit of both. I think you’re getting the odd person, like we got a video of somebody tearing a cable off a pole and then going to residents and asking for R3 000 to restore the electricity.

Then, I think subcontractors are actually stealing breakers to go and fix people’s outages from places where outages have not, in fact, happened.

So they’re making a quick buck on the side. These are contractors who know what they’re doing because they steal the breakers, they’re deliberate parts that they know what they’re doing.

JEREMY MAGGS: It would beg the question, Anna, how these contractors or syndicates would know which areas are vulnerable and which residents may be willing to pay up.

ANNA COX: City Power has got an open website as to where the outages are, so it’s fairly easy to access. Then, of course, if you just drive around at night, you can see the areas where the outages are happening.

JEREMY MAGGS: Who are the people then allegedly collecting the money from the residents? Have you done any work in that respect?

ANNA COX: Well, it’s the contractors or so-called City Power officials. Again, the police can’t investigate because unless they’re caught doing it, it’s very difficult to prosecute.

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But residents are being approached by people who are saying they’re City Power officials – whether they are or not is another story – or they say they’re contractors to City Power.

Again, they carry City Power badges, so it’s very difficult to prove who is real and who’s not real. So that’s where the residents are in a dilemma.

JEREMY MAGGS: What are people paying for then, Anna? Is it an illegal connection? Would it be a faster repair or simply, as that video that you referenced showed, the restoration of a service that they already fund?

ANNA COX: It’s usually a restoration because people are desperate, completely desperate. I’m currently sitting without power for four days, and I’m on the verge that I would actually like to pay somebody to restore my electricity.

The people are desperate and these contractors or fake City Power officials are capitalising on that and asking residents for up to R1 500 to restore power.

I’ve got a recording, which we are busy cleaning up, and the guy is offering to pay R500, and this contractor is saying no, he wants R1 200 because he needs to go and get a breaker, he said.

JEREMY MAGGS: What would happen to residents or communities who say, no, enough is enough and refuse to pay? Has that happened, do you know?

ANNA COX: Yes. Then you sit without electricity until the city at its own time decides to come and fix the fault.

JEREMY MAGGS: So it’s understandable, then, that residents would approach private operators instead of reporting demands to the police. Because, as you’ve just referenced, you simply want to switch the light on or put a kettle on.

ANNA COX: Correct. You’re saving money, ultimately. You’re not losing stuff from your fridge and you’re desperate, you want a hot bath, and you say, here’s R1 500, please reconnect me.

JEREMY MAGGS: Anna, how widespread do you think this practice is across Johannesburg, which is seemingly on its knees in this respect anyway?

ANNA COX: It’s increasing. I’m getting daily complaints about this. It’s right across Joburg, from the eastern suburbs to the northern suburbs to Alexandra to the areas where it is supplied by City Power. It’s very common and it’s growing because it’s an easy target.

JEREMY MAGGS: And as that video shows, quite brazen.

ANNA COX: Absolutely. That was daylight. There are cameras around and they don’t seem to care.

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JEREMY MAGGS: Anna Cox, when you put this to City Power and the specific evidence and clearer evidence, you cannot get a better evidence than from the video that we that we’ve seen and that was posted on the Daily Maverick website, what sort of response do you get?

ANNA COX: They throw their hands up and say, give us evidence, tell us the time and place, and then you’ve got to file a police report.

Then they’ve got to go and investigate. It’s going to take months to investigate. Unless there is absolute evidence, you don’t know who the guy is. He’s somebody off the street. How are you going to prove who he is?

JEREMY MAGGS: So to the best of your knowledge, disciplinary proceedings, contract cancellations, arrests, you don’t know whether that has happened or not.

ANNA COX: It has not happened, no, because nobody is prepared to come forward with any evidence. They’re obviously scared because if somebody comes to try and bribe you, they know where you live.

Residents are petrified. They’re not going to go and say they’ve paid a bribe to so-and-so because they will become targets.

JEREMY MAGGS: It’s patently obvious that City Power’s operational collapse is now creating a viable market in which these criminals thrive.

ANNA COX: Correct. As I said, it all boils down to the desperation of residents, who are sitting without power. We’ve had people reporting power outages for up to a month.

JEREMY MAGGS: Anna, what will need to change then to break the cycle of sabotage?

ANNA COX: Well, we are back to the question of money, which the city doesn’t have.

They need to obviously invest a lot of money in improving infrastructure and maintaining it, which they haven’t done for years.

Once the infrastructure is up and going, obviously things should work normally.

JEREMY MAGGS: Anna Cox, investigative journalist at the Daily Maverick, thank you very much indeed. It really is a stark picture of what is happening in the city of Johannesburg. Appreciate your time today, thank you.

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