While City Power does provide a route for residents to seek compensation, the gap between suffering a loss and successfully proving it may be far wider than many households expect.
Image: ChatGPT
For many Johannesburg residents, the financial impact of a prolonged power outage begins only after the electricity returns.
Previous IOL analysis found replacing the contents of a typical household freezer could cost around R2,000. But food is often the smallest loss.
A power surge can destroy a television, desktop computer or the backup power equipment many households invested in during the load-shedding years, leaving families facing repair or replacement costs running into tens of thousands of rand.
For those whose insurance no longer covers power surges, or whose policies require expensive excesses or strict conditions, claiming from City Power may appear to be the only option.
But the utility's own claims process raises a practical question: how easy is it for an ordinary resident to prove a claim?
City Power's latest quarterly report recorded just 32 public liability claims between July and September. Twenty-two related to power surges, while three were attributed to power outages. The estimated value of all public liability claims totalled R823,596.75.
Given the frequency of outages and the volume of complaints about damaged appliances on community social media groups, the relatively small number of claims raises questions about whether residents know they can claim and or whether many losses simply never make it beyond the kitchen table.
The first challenge is proving what was lost. Keeping the receipt for a television is one thing. Proving the contents of a freezer is another.
A freezer is stocked over time. Mince may have been bought one week, chicken the next, frozen vegetables when they were on special and ready meals over several shopping trips.
While a supermarket receipt itemises those purchases, few households keep weeks' or months' worth of grocery slips. A bank statement showing "Checkers – R2,146" or "Pick n Pay – R1,387" confirms only that money was spent. It doesn't prove what was in the trolley, or later, the freezer.
Then there is the question of evidence.
City Power requires supporting documentation with claims, including proof of ownership or value, quotations or invoices where applicable and evidence supporting the loss. That may be straightforward for an appliance that can be inspected or repaired.
Spoiled food presents a different challenge.
Most people throw away rotten meat, dairy products and defrosted frozen food as soon as they realise it is no longer safe to eat. By the time a claim is submitted, the evidence may already be sitting in a municipal landfill.
Here's what a power outage could mean when the lights are off and if there's surge when it comes back.
Image: ChatGPT
Obtaining an outage reference number may be another hurdle.
Across Johannesburg, electricity faults are often reported through ward councillors, residents' associations or community WhatsApp groups. One resident logs the outage, receives the reference number and shares updates with neighbours.
Hundreds of other households affected by the same outage may never contact City Power directly or receive a reference number of their own.
Yet a reference number forms part of the information required when submitting a claim. Perhaps the biggest obstacle is establishing that City Power is legally responsible.
A resident knows only that the lights went out and came back with a surge that damaged household equipment. They are unlikely to know whether the cause was cable theft, vandalism, ageing infrastructure, equipment failure, an Eskom fault or damage caused by a third party.
If the utility says cable thieves caused the outage, how does a resident prove otherwise? The maintenance records, fault reports and operational information needed to answer that question sit with City Power, not the person trying to recover the cost of a damaged television or inverter.
Even when all the paperwork has been submitted, there is no guarantee of a quick outcome.
City Power acknowledges in its latest quarterly report that settling insurance claims remains challenging because of funding constraints, slow cost validation and a backlog of historical claims.
The utility says unresolved historical asset claims total R654 million, while a further 131 claims from the current quarter, worth R74.4 million, were still awaiting validation.
For residents already grappling with repeated outages, those practical realities may matter as much as the claim form itself. The result is that while City Power does provide a route for residents to seek compensation, the gap between suffering a loss and successfully proving it may be far wider than many households expect.
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