The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

ActionSA welcomes and supports the decisive steps taken by Tshwane Executive Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya and her multi-party coalition to stabilise, protect and upgrade the capital’s electricity network following months of severe disruption.

Over December and January, residents across Tshwane endured prolonged and repeated power outages that disrupted livelihoods, compromised safety and eroded trust. The City has correctly acknowledged the depth of public frustration and, rather than minimising the crisis, has presented a clear and honest plan to confront it.

It is important to state plainly that these outages are not the result of a single failure or a short-term lapse. They are the consequence of years of chronic underinvestment, ageing infrastructure, escalating vandalism and the failure of previous administrations to adequately maintain and protect the electricity grid.

As the Mayor revealed today, since 2018 the City has faced a cumulative maintenance funding deficit of R364 million against a required R548 million, representing a 66% shortfall.

Those decisions have compounded over time and left the system fragile. This context is necessary, not to deflect responsibility, but to understand the scale of the challenge now being addressed.

What is significant is that the current administration has made it clear that responsibility for fixing the problem rests squarely with it. While others seek to politicise the crisis, this administration has chosen to act.

The City’s plan correctly prioritises immediate grid stabilisation, followed by targeted interventions to reduce medium-term risk in parts of the network where a single failure can plunge entire areas into darkness. Over the next three to twelve months, the focus will be on restoring redundancy at high-impact substations and completing major electricity projects already under way.

Crucially, this plan is now backed by a clear shift in funding. Capital investment in the electricity network has increased to R650 million in the 2025/26 financial year, reversing years of under-allocation. Funding for operations, repairs and maintenance has also been materially strengthened, including an additional R25 million through the adjustments budget, improving the City’s ability to prevent minor faults from escalating into major outages.

Mayor Moya has also moved to strengthen operational capacity by initiating the capacitation of technical teams through the City’s R300 million critical vacancies fund, with the first set of job advertisements already issued.

Further interventions include intensifying proactive and first-line maintenance, strengthening the protection of substations, cables and transformers against organised criminal activity, and addressing illegal connections that place unsafe and unsustainable strain on the grid.

The administration has additionally committed to improving the quality, consistency and honesty of communication with residents during outages, which is essential to rebuilding public trust.

ActionSA supports these interventions and commends the Mayor and the coalition for confronting difficult realities rather than avoiding them. As a governing party in Tshwane, we are equally clear that support does not mean complacency. We will hold our own Executive to account to ensure that plans translate into real, measurable improvements on the ground.

ActionSA also calls on the residents of Tshwane to reject the political ambulance chasing by Cilliers Brink on this matter given that he and his party have been behind the wheel for 8 years as they drove Tshwane's infrastructure into the ground. To expect Tshwane residents to endure face these outages while enduring these antics from those responsible would be adding insult to injury.

If Mayor Moya’s track record of decisive leadership in stabilising other key areas of City governance is anything to go by, residents can expect steady and visible progress in restoring the reliability of Tshwane’s electricity network.

Issued by ActionSA National Chairperson Michael Beaumont