Johannesburg’s popular strip club The Summit was plunged into darkness on Tuesday after City Power disconnected its electricity over an outstanding R2.6-million bill, in a high-profile enforcement move targeting inner city defaulters.
The shutdown formed part of a mayoral high-impact operation led by the Office of Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero, focusing on restoring compliance, recovering lost revenue and protecting critical electricity infrastructure in Hillbrow.
City Power officials, supported by emergency services and the City’s Building Control Unit, conducted inspections along Claim Street, Esselen Street and Edith Cavell Street.
Adult entertainment club owes R2.6m
While several properties were visited, attention quickly turned to The Summit, a well-known nightclub that draws large weekend crowds. It is also a popular Gentlemen’s club and regarded as one of Hillbrow’s most recognisable adult entertainment venues.
Inspectors found one registered electricity meter at the nightclub which was up to date. However, a second meter was found to be heavily in arrears, with an outstanding balance of R2.6-million. In line with City Power’s credit control policies, the defaulting supply was disconnected, leaving the venue to operate on a generator.
City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said the operation reflected a growing pattern among non-compliant businesses in the inner city.
“We are on a high-level mayoral operation in Hillbrow and currently we are at Summit Hotel. This is a club within the inner city, and we found that they are owing us about R2.6-million in arrears,” Mangena said.
Attempts to manipulate system increasing
He said officials were increasingly encountering attempts to manipulate municipal systems.
“What we also found, which is worrying, is that most businesses actually know how to play the system. He’s got two accounts, two meters. What he has done is that he owed R2.6-million on one account. When he realised that he could not pay the account, he opened another account with the city,” Mangena said.
According to City Power, the club will remain disconnected until at least half of the outstanding amount is paid.
“We’ve switched them off. They are currently running on a generator,” Mangena said.
Breach of building regulations
The nightclub was also cited for breaching municipal building regulations. Inspectors found internal layout changes that had been done without an approved building plan from the city.
Morero said the enforcement drive was aimed at restoring fairness and protecting paying customers.
“These measures are essential to safeguarding the integrity of the electricity grid. And to ensure that law-abiding, paying customers are not unfairly burdened by those who continue to evade payment and engage in unlawful activity,” he said.
The city said operations in Hillbrow and other inner-city areas would intensify. Authorities will continue to clamp down on non-payment, illegal connections and electricity-related criminality.
