Diepkloof Hostel Residents Left in the Dark After City Fails To Pay Eskom Nearly R20 Million

• Residents at the Diepkloof Hostel have been without electricity after it emerged that the City of Johannesburg had not paid Eskom nearly R20 million
• City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena confirmed that power has not been restored because the supply was isolated due to the unpaid debt
• Johannesburg Human Settlements MMC Mlungisi Mabaso said the city has been engaging with Eskom and assured residents that power would be restored soon

Nerissa Naidoo, a journalist at Briefly News since 2024, previously worked as an editor, content creator, researcher, and ghostwriter before joining the team.

GAUTENG, DIEPKLOOF - Residents at the Diepkloof Hostel in Johannesburg have spent days without electricity. This is after Eskom cut power to the property over an unpaid bill of nearly R20 million. The outage, which was first reported earlier in the week, pushed frustrated residents to take to the streets in protest on Saturday, 26 April 2026. What made the situation even more difficult to swallow was the confirmation that the debt had nothing to do with the residents themselves, but rather with the city department responsible for footing the bill.

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Why the lights went out?

City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena explained that technical faults on the grid had already been found and fixed. However, power could not be switched back on because the supply had been deliberately isolated due to the outstanding debt on the account. Mangena was clear about where the responsibility sits. The MMC of Human Settlements is currently handling this matter.

Johannesburg Human Settlements MMC Mlungisi Mabaso acknowledged the city's failure to keep up with payments, saying that they have not paid Eskom. The department has acknowledged that they owe them R20 million. They have also noted that there is an ongoing engagement with Eskom. They added that the city was doing everything it could to get power restored to the hostel as quickly as possible. City Power confirmed it was working alongside the Department of Human Settlements to sort out the arrears and get the community back on the grid.

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Residents caught in the middle

For the people living at the Diepkloof Hostel, the outage has meant days of disruption with no clear end date. This is ongoing even though there has been assurances from officials that a resolution is on the way.

Other Eskom-related issues ongoing

Hundreds of mineworkers marched through the streets of Johannesburg to oppose Eskom's unbundling, warning the ANC of cutting off support if electricity became even less affordable for ordinary people.

A Johannesburg man took to TikTok to question whether prepaid electricity metres are saving anyone money, raising concerns about hidden fees and inconsistent units that had South Africans sharing their own frustrating experiences.

South Africans revisited the heartbreaking 2023 death of a three-year-old girl whose breathing machine failed during load shedding, with the conversation resurfacing amid fresh fraud allegations linked to Eskom contracts.

Source: Briefly News