A Country Running on Empty

ZUIKERBOSCH POWER FAILURES LEAVE GAUTENG COMMUNITIES ON DRY TAPS — SOSHANGUVE HARDEST HIT

Repeated electrical faults at Rand Water's Zuikerbosch Water Treatment Plant have disrupted water supply across parts of Gauteng. A cable fault on 8 October reduced pumping capacity at the Palmiet Booster Station, and a further power outage on 9 October slowed refilling of the Hartebeeshoek Reservoir. Communities in Soshanguve, Mabopane and surrounding areas experienced low pressure or no water over the weekend.

The DA’s Gauteng caucus, after a site visit, said Rand Water “must get its house in order”, warning that a single electrical failure at Zuikerbosch can threaten the water supply of millions. Rand Water has since reported the plant is back to full operation, but pressure in higher-lying areas may take days to normalise.

Sources: The Citizen · Infrastructure News · Jacaranda FM · DA Gauteng — 8–13 October 2026Permalink

NEARLY HALF OF SA'S WASTEWATER SYSTEMS IN CRITICAL CONDITION — GREEN DROP REPORT

The full Green Drop Report for the 2023/24 financial year, released in March, paints a worsening picture of South Africa's sewerage infrastructure. Of 848 municipal wastewater treatment systems assessed, 396 (47%) are in critical condition — up from 334 (39%) in the previous assessment. Only 66 systems (8%) perform at good or excellent levels, down from 118 (14%).

The Department of Water and Sanitation is pursuing 96 criminal cases against 53 water services authorities. The Free State has 81 critical systems, the highest provincial total. Nationally, only 1,151 of the required 2,431 process controllers are employed — a skills gap that undermines every intervention.

Sources: TimesLIVE · Mail & Guardian · IOL — 5 October 2026 (citing Green Drop Report, March 2026)Permalink

ESKOM PASSES 500 DAYS WITHOUT LOAD SHEDDING

Eskom confirmed it has now gone more than 504 consecutive days without load shedding, since 16 May 2025. The utility's Energy Availability Factor improved to 68.11% for the financial year to date (April–October 2026), up 5.52 percentage points year-on-year.

Diesel expenditure fell by R4.79 billion (80%) in the same period, from R5.95bn to R1.16bn. Five provinces are now entirely free of load reduction (the targeted disconnection of non-paying areas that replaced blanket load shedding).

Eskom's own medium-term outlook, published in October 2025, warned that load shedding is likely to return between 2029 and 2030 as old plant retires and new capacity lags.

Sources: Eskom media statement · allAfrica · IOL · SAnews · Further Africa — 5–6 October 2026Permalink

ESKOM PASSES 500 DAYS WITHOUT LOAD SHEDDING

Eskom has surpassed 500 consecutive days without implementing load shedding, the longest unbroken period since rolling blackouts became a regular feature of South African life. The last load shedding was implemented on 16 May 2025.

The utility's year-to-date Energy Availability Factor (EAF) has improved to 68.11%, with approximately 2,943 MW of generation capacity returned to service. Diesel expenditure has fallen 80.49% year-on-year.

However, Eskom continues to implement load reduction — targeted supply cuts — in areas affected by illegal connections, meter tampering and infrastructure overloading. The utility is on track to eliminate load reduction in a seventh province by October 2026, with nationwide eradication targeted for 2027.

Sources: Eskom · allAfrica · IOL · SAnews — October 2026Permalink

This site published nothing between 10 September and 5 October 2026. The gap was not editorial. The automated daily updater stopped working on 9 September and nobody noticed for 27 days.

Two unrelated things broke within an hour of each other. A Windows update replaced the version of PowerShell the scheduled job was pointed at and deleted the old one, so the job could not start. The same day, the unattended login the job uses expired and would not renew. The job's own status file therefore kept reporting the last successful run, and the task scheduler recorded no missed runs — because it did fire each morning, it simply failed to launch. Both faults are now fixed.

The entries dated 10 September to 5 October were written on 6 October from the archive, and each one says so. A date on this site is the date the thing happened. It does not mean this site reported it that day, and in this window it did not.

Some days in that window are thinner than they should be and a few are missing. Where the record could not be established from named sources, nothing was written rather than something plausible.

Sources: This site's own run logs and Windows Task Scheduler records, 9 September – 6 October 2026Permalink

504 DAYS WITHOUT LOAD SHEDDING — AND A THIRD SUBSTATION FIRE IN A MONTH

Eskom reported 504 consecutive days without load shedding since 16 May 2025, a year-to-date Energy Availability Factor of 68.11%, a R4.79 billion reduction in diesel costs for April to October, and a 6.69% year-on-year improvement in unplanned outages. For the week to 1 October, EAF was 69.72% against 66.92% a year earlier.

Load reduction now affects 202,590 customers, down from 1.69 million, with about 1.49 million restored to normal supply and seven of nine provinces free of it. 517,872 smart meters have been installed, 90% of the high-priority target, aiming to eliminate load reduction by March 2027. Eskom described this as its strongest operational performance in six years, with about 6,492MW returned to the grid compared with three years ago.

There was no load shedding at any point between 10 September and 5 October 2026.

Distribution is a different story. On 1 October City Power reported the third fire in a month at its Central Substation in the Johannesburg CBD and the sixth there since January, four of them confirmed to involve cable theft or vandalism. Large parts of the CBD lost power a day after a previous two-week outage was resolved. Generation and distribution are diverging.

Added later — this entry was written on 6 October 2026, not on the date above. The daily updater was down and this day was reconstructed from the archive afterwards.

Sources: Eskom · SAnews · allAfrica · EWN — 1–5 October 2026Permalink

MUNICIPAL DEBT TO ESKOM REACHES R120 BILLION, PROJECTED AT R358 BILLION BY 2031

Overdue municipal debt to Eskom stood at R120.26 billion as at 31 July 2026, up from R111.6 billion at the end of the March financial year, and is projected to reach R358 billion by 2031 without intervention. 83 municipalities are under formal debt-recovery processes. By December 2025, 71 municipalities in the debt-relief programme collectively owed R85.2 billion, and only 10 of the 71 fully complied with payment requirements.

Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa: “Municipal debt remains the single greatest threat to Eskom's financial sustainability.”

Johannesburg and City Power settled R5.25 billion combined.

A note on the figures: because different reports quote different as-at dates, amounts between R111.6bn and R120.26bn all appear in circulation and are not inconsistent with each other. Two days after this briefing one outlet reported the same minister putting municipal debt at R450 billion. That matches neither the overdue total nor the 2031 projection, and we are not publishing it as the debt figure.

Added later — this entry was written on 6 October 2026, not on the date above. The daily updater was down and this day was reconstructed from the archive afterwards.

Sources: TimesLIVE · IOL · Briefly — 23–25 September 2026Permalink

42 CAPE TOWN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS HIT BY EXTORTION. ZERO ARRESTS.

In a written parliamentary reply to ActionSA MP Dereleen James, Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia disclosed 42 project entries valued at R1.483 billion affected in Cape Town: 12 by extortion, 16 by intimidation and 14 recorded under construction-mafia activity.

The reply states: “No (0) arrests have been made. No (0) arrests have resulted in convictions.”

The City of Cape Town separately reported 15 municipal projects affected by extortion, at least five stopped, and 17 facing business-forum interference.

Added later — this entry was written on 6 October 2026, not on the date above. The daily updater was down and this day was reconstructed from the archive afterwards.

Sources: Cape Town Etc · IOL Cape Argus — 21–22 September 2026Permalink

CITY POWER CUTS FIVE HIJACKED DOORNFONTEIN BUILDINGS OWING R5-MILLION

City Power disconnected five hijacked buildings in Doornfontein owing nearly R5 million combined, one of them about R2 million. It has identified 108 problematic buildings across the inner city owing R115 million in total.

Spokesperson Isaac Mangena: “We don't rush to disconnect people.” On the scale of losses, two outlets quote him differently in the same week — one at R13 billion annually and one at R18 billion. We give both rather than choosing.

Two days earlier City Power removed about 12 tonnes of illegal cable worth some R250,000 from the Slamdam informal settlement in Tshepisong. Acting CEO Charles Tlouane: “We cannot simply replace a transformer or install infrastructure and expect the problem to disappear while illegal connections continue to overload the network.”

Added later — this entry was written on 6 October 2026, not on the date above. The daily updater was down and this day was reconstructed from the archive afterwards.

Sources: Sowetan · YFM — 16–23 September 2026Permalink

RECORDING HAS MORERO PRIORITISING PROJECTS VISIBLE BEFORE THE ELECTION

A recording of a 17 September City of Johannesburg meeting, reported by Daily Maverick on 1 October, has Mayor Dada Morero proposing to prioritise projects that could visibly be completed before the 4 November elections — “50 days away to an election” — naming Lilian Ngoyi Street with a 30 October deadline, sports complexes in Ivory Park and Orange Farm, clinic funding and pothole repairs.

The city faces R10 billion in project backlogs and anticipated a R3 billion short-term loan facility. Spokesperson Khathutshelo Mulaudzi rejected claims of political interference and said a planned political-only meeting “ultimately did not occur.” The DA called for an investigation into possible Municipal Finance Management Act violations.

This rests on a single investigative report.

Added later — this entry was written on 6 October 2026, not on the date above. The daily updater was down and this day was reconstructed from the archive afterwards.

Sources: Daily Maverick — 1 October 2026 (single source)Permalink

TSHWANE CUTS POWER TO A JOHANNESBURG WATER RESERVOIR OVER R62-MILLION

The City of Tshwane disconnected electricity to a Johannesburg Water reservoir in Centurion over an outstanding debt of R62 million. Tshwane said the original bill was R69.4 million, of which only R7 million was paid after a final notice. The action formed part of its Tshwane Ya Tima revenue campaign. Mayor Nasiphi Moya: “We continue to plead with customers to honour their municipal bills. Without revenue, we are unable to deliver services to residents.”

It came a day after a contractor working for Emfuleni damaged an Eskom line supplying Rand Water's Vereeniging treatment plant, reducing pumping at Eikenhof, Zwartkoppies and Vereeniging. Rand Water said it takes about six hours to restart its systems after a power failure, and that municipal reservoir recovery can take weeks.

The DA called the disconnection “deeply reckless and irresponsible” given that Johannesburg Water reservoirs were already critically low. That statement is a party document and carries no debt figure of its own.

Added later — this entry was written on 6 October 2026, not on the date above. The daily updater was down and this day was reconstructed from the archive afterwards.

Sources: Jacaranda FM · Infrastructure News (Rand Water statement) · Polity — 13–17 September 2026Permalink

SEVERE STORMS BATTER GAUTENG, NORTH WEST AND NORTHERN CAPE — ROADS CLOSED, HOMES DAMAGED

The South African Weather Service issued an Orange Level 6 warning for severe thunderstorms over the North West, the northern half of the Free State and the northeastern Northern Cape, with a separate Level 5 warning for Gauteng and the Highveld of Mpumalanga.

Homes were damaged in Setlagole village (70 km outside Mahikeng) and Sol Plaatje Municipality, with roofs blown off by strong winds. In North West, one learning centre and two primary schools were also damaged. The North West Provincial Disaster Management Centre activated coordinating structures across district municipalities.

In Johannesburg, multiple roads were closed including Cooper and Beryl streets in Cyrildene, Beatrice and Princess avenues in Windsor, and Smit Street at the M1 ramps. Vehicles were submerged at the Siemert Road and Currey Street intersection in Doornfontein. Johannesburg Emergency Management Services deployed water rescue units. SAWS warned that severe thunderstorms would continue into Sunday 7 September.

Sources: Daily Maverick · TimesLIVE · EWN · SAWS · The Citizen — 6 September 2026Permalink

ILLEGAL MINING CREATING SINKHOLES AND COLLAPSING ROADS ACROSS JOHANNESBURG

A major report published Friday documented how illegal mining — the so-called zama zama operations — is destroying infrastructure across Johannesburg. Underground blasting and excavation in abandoned shafts and newly dug tunnels have created cracks, sinkholes and collapsing roads, particularly along Wemmer Pan Road near the N7 off-ramp.

A mining expert estimated that more than 34,000 irregular miners operate in South Africa. The round-the-clock operations damage electricity and water networks, destabilise homes and buildings, and fuel violent competition between criminal gangs. Experts warned the infrastructure damage will worsen, with more houses at risk of cracking and falling into sinkholes.

The City of Johannesburg has struggled to contain the crisis. Residents of informal settlements built on mine waste dumps face additional health risks from contaminated ground.

Sources: AFP · EWN · Daily Maverick · Africanews · Africa Briefing — 4 September 2026Permalink

SAWS WARNS OF HOT, DRY SUMMER AS STRONG EL NIÑO DEVELOPS

The South African Weather Service has warned that a potentially very strong El Niño event is developing earlier than usual and is expected to peak between October 2026 and January 2027. Below-normal rainfall is the most likely outcome over most of South Africa from October to December, accompanied by above-normal temperatures.

Forecasters estimate the event could bring a 1–3°C increase in monthly mean temperatures and a 20–40% rainfall deficit in the summer-rainfall belt. Daytime highs may regularly exceed 34°C in Gauteng. The warning compounds existing pressure on water infrastructure, with 47% of treated water already lost to leaks, theft and unbilled use nationally.

However, not every El Niño produces drought — the precise regional impact remains uncertain and will depend on the event's unique characteristics.

Sources: SAWS · Mail & Guardian · The Citizen · Daily Maverick · IOL — 22 August–2 September 2026Permalink

41 JOHANNESBURG AMBULANCES IDLE FOR SIX YEARS — CITY STILL AWAITING PROVINCIAL EMS LICENCE

Forty-one ambulances purchased by the City of Johannesburg in 2019 for roughly R1 million each have never entered service because the city lacks an EMS operating licence from the Gauteng Department of Health. The vehicles have been sitting at city depots since the province took over ambulance services in 2020.

The Gauteng department said it received the city's licence application covering six stations in July 2026 and that the application is "under review." City EMS spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi disputed claims they were completely idle, saying the city continued operating them for about two years after provincialisation before being told to stop.

The DA in Gauteng called the situation a "R41-million disgrace" and said residents face dangerously long ambulance waiting times while functional vehicles gather dust.

Sources: The Citizen · DA Gauteng · African Insider · Newsday — August 2026Permalink

MORERO APOLOGISES AFTER HEATED TSHEPISONG EXCHANGE — ONLY 200 OF 12,000 HOUSEHOLDS PAYING FOR ELECTRICITY

Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero apologised after a heated exchange at a service-delivery meeting in Tshepisong on Thursday, in which he told a resident who called him a criminal: "You are talking st."** The exchange was captured on video and circulated widely. Morero later posted a video taking "full responsibility" and apologised to the resident in person.

The meeting was called to address persistent electricity outages in the area. City Power disclosed that only about 200 of roughly 12,000 households in Tshepisong are paying for electricity. Morero committed to starting an infrastructure normalisation process on Monday, including capacity audits and action against illegal connections.

The ANC Greater Johannesburg Region formally distanced itself from Morero's comments, describing his conduct as "fundamentally un-ANC" and incompatible with the movement's values.

Sources: eNCA · The Citizen · TimesLIVE · Briefly — 27–28 August 2026Permalink

JOHANNESBURG SETTLES THE FULL R5.25 BILLION; ESKOM WITHDRAWS THE DISCONNECTION PROCESS

On Friday, 21 August 2026 Eskom received the final payment from the City of Johannesburg and City Power, settling in full the overdue electricity debt of R5,255,421,994.16. Eskom has withdrawn the PAJA process it initiated on 17 May — the administrative step that would have preceded cutting bulk supply to 4.2 million residents.

What happens next. The City has confirmed to Eskom that the July current account of R1,860,379,885, due on 31 August, will be paid on its due date, and that it remains committed to paying all future current accounts on or before their due dates. That commitment is the thing to watch: the arrears were cleared, but the underlying billing and collection problem that generated them was not.

This site got this story wrong twice. In July it reported an “R800m instalment due 15 August” that did not exist, and a debt figure of R6.84bn that did not match Eskom’s published record. Both were corrected on 10 August. The accurate version is the one that just concluded: R5.26bn overdue in May, R4.32bn paid by late July, the balance cleared on 21 August, process withdrawn.

Worth stating plainly, because this site does not often get to: the threat was real, the deadline was met, and the lights stayed on.

Sources: Eskom media statement — “City of Johannesburg settles in full R5.25 billion overdue electricity debt” · EWN · IOL — 21–22 August 2026Permalink

JOHANNESBURG’S R5.12 BILLION COMMITMENT FALLS DUE TOMORROW

The City of Johannesburg committed to total payments of R5,117,736,000 by 21 August 2026. It has paid R4,324,754,901.71 so far, against overdue arrears of R5,255,421,994.16 when the process opened on 17 May.

Eskom’s PAJA consultation — the administrative process that must precede any bulk supply disconnection — has been extended only to 22 August, specifically so Eskom can watch whether the City meets these commitments. As at 24 July the overdue balance was R3,801,864,153.45: R1,222,786,264 in overdue current account and R2,579,077,889 still outstanding on a settlement made an order of the High Court.

Bulk supply to 4.2 million residents remains the instrument in reserve. This page will record the outcome rather than predict it.

Sources: Eskom media statements · Engineering News · The Citizen · IOL — 17 May – 20 August 2026Permalink

RAMAPHOSA APPROVES A FULLY INDEPENDENT GRID OPERATOR — AND OVERRULES HIS OWN MINISTER

President Ramaphosa has formally approved the creation of a fully independent, state-owned Transmission System Operator (TSO) established entirely outside Eskom. It is the most consequential structural change to South Africa’s electricity industry in decades.

Eskom tried to keep the grid and lost. The decision follows the report of the National Treasury-led Eskom Restructuring Task Team, appointed in February to draft the unbundling blueprint, after a failed Eskom bid to retain the transmission assets in-house.

The President overruled his own energy minister. In his 2026 State of the Nation Address Ramaphosa said the independent TSO will own and operate the transmission assets. That directly contradicts the plan announced in December by Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, under which the TSO would have been only the system and market operator while the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA) kept the assets as an Eskom Holdings subsidiary. Ownership, not just operation, is the whole fight: an operator that does not own the wires cannot credibly guarantee open access to Eskom’s competitors.

Interim steps. The task team’s Phase 1 report requires NTCSA independence be strengthened now — completely independent boards with no cross-directorships with Eskom, all electricity-market decision-making delegated from Eskom to NTCSA, and NTCSA’s finances and operations ring-fenced. The legally mandated deadline for a fully independent TSO is 31 December 2029.

Why it matters beyond the org chart. A monopoly utility that generates power, owns the wires and decides who may connect has every incentive to keep competitors off the grid. Splitting the wires out is the precondition for independent power producers reaching customers at scale. It does nothing on its own about the R338bn debt, the municipal arrears, or the 2029–2030 supply crunch — but none of those get solved while one entity controls all three functions.

Sources: The Presidency · National Treasury ERTT Phase 1 report · Engineering News · Business Day · MyBroadband · REGlobal — February–August 2026Permalink

This page reported that Johannesburg owed Eskom R6.84bn and had to pay an R800m first instalment by 15 August under an 18-month plan, with disconnection to follow any missed payment. Those figures did not match Eskom's own published record and the 15 August instalment did not exist. Per Eskom: the PAJA process began on 17 May 2026 against overdue debt of R5,255,421,994.16; the City has since paid R4,324,754,901.71; it has committed to payments totalling R5,117,736,000 by 21 August 2026; and the PAJA consultation has been extended to 22 August 2026. Corrected below.

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JOBURG HAS PAID R4.32 BILLION; DISCONNECTION DEFERRED TO 22 AUGUST

Eskom has confirmed the City of Johannesburg paid R4,324,754,901.71 toward its electricity debt, against overdue arrears of R5,255,421,994.16 when the PAJA process opened on 17 May 2026. It is the largest payment the City has made against this debt.

What remains. As at 24 July the overdue balance stood at R3,801,864,153.45 — comprising R1,222,786,264 in overdue current account and R2,579,077,889 still outstanding on the settlement arrangement that was made an order of the High Court. The current electricity account of R2,636,676,621 fell due on 3 August. The City has committed to total payments of R5,117,736,000 by 21 August 2026.

The deadline that matters is 22 August, not 15 August. Eskom extended the PAJA consultation to that date to finish assessing representations and to watch whether the City actually meets its commitments. Bulk supply disconnection to 4.2 million residents remains the instrument in reserve.

The payment is real progress and worth saying plainly. It also does not fix the underlying arithmetic: the City collects roughly 68% of what it bills, and a metro that cannot bill cannot pay.

Sources: Eskom media statements · The Citizen · IOL · SABC News · News24 — 17 May – 10 August 2026Permalink

441 DAYS WITHOUT LOAD SHEDDING; WINTER RISK DID NOT MATERIALISE

As of 4 August 2026 Eskom reports 441 consecutive days without load shedding. There has been none since 16 May 2025. Between 1 April and 30 July 2026, Eskom met electricity demand 100% of the time, and is carrying a surplus of roughly 6GW above national need.

The performance numbers are the strongest in nearly a decade. On 26 July Eskom recorded a daily Energy Availability Factor of 82.04% — its best single day since 2017 — while unplanned outages fell to 4,562MW, the lowest since 30 June 2018. For the week of 24–30 July, unplanned outages averaged 5,553MW against 10,641MW in the same week a year earlier, a 47.8% year-on-year reduction.

Eskom's Winter Outlook projects no load shedding through 31 August 2026. The Stage 6 risk scenario flagged in May did not materialise. The 2029–2030 supply crunch remains projected without 27GW of new capacity.

Sources: Eskom system status · SAnews · allAfrica — 4 August 2026Permalink