Johannesburg City Power’s major showdown with the Hawks

Johannesburg’s electricity utility, City Power, and South Africa’s anti-corruption unit, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks), will meet in the Gauteng High Court today.

This is over City Power’s urgent interdict application. The municipal utility is seeking to halt further Hawks operations, claiming that recent search-and-seizure raids were unlawful and amounted to harassment.

City Power is demanding the return of seized documents, data, and devices, and a court declaration that the Hawks violated proper legal procedure.

The dispute stems from two Hawks operations at City Power’s Johannesburg headquarters in 2025. 

The first, in August, was described by the utility as a “request for information” that took place without a warrant. 

The second, on September 25, followed a warrant issued on September 17 and quickly escalated into a public showdown. 

At the center of the probe is the R67 million transformer tender, payment made for equipment never delivered. 

The broader investigation covers contracts totaling more than half a billion rand, with allegations of inflated payments and breaches of the Public Finance Management Act.

City Power claims the warrant was flawed under Section 29(1) of the Cybercrimes Act and that the operation turned into what it calls a “public spectacle.”

Utility spokesperson Isaac Mangena accused the Hawks of harassment, saying the raids disrupted operations and humiliated staff. 

But Hawks spokesperson Kelebogile Khatala defended the actions as lawful and necessary, part of a probe launched in late 2024 into alleged corruption around City Power contracts exceeding R500 million, including a contentious R67 million transformer tender.

The City Power probe

According to News24’s investigative series Power Connections, the Hawks’ probe targets City Power CEO Tshifularo Mashava as a central figure in the alleged procurement irregularities. 

The series revealed that the utility suffered a staggering R2.8 billion loss in the 2023/24 financial year and had a negative bank balance of R16.3 billion as of September 2024. 

The Auditor-General linked the crisis to mismanagement, inflated contract prices, and non-delivery of key equipment, including the transformers at the heart of the current probe.

The publication also highlighted contradictions in City Power’s public statements.

Mangena initially said no items were seized, while an affidavit by acting senior manager Spiwe Bembe confirmed that devices and documents had indeed been taken. 

Bembe’s affidavit insisted that City Power was cooperating with investigators but urged the court to ensure “fairness, accountability, and transparency.”

The urgent application seeks two primary outcomes. Under Part A, City Power wants the court to immediately stop further Hawks operations. Under Part B, it asks for a judicial review of the warrant’s validity. 

The utility also demands the return of all seized materials, claiming that some of the servers removed are critical to daily operations and service delivery.

On October 7, the court postponed proceedings to allow the Hawks to file outstanding affidavits, leading to the resumed hearing this week. 

Mangena, joined by City Power’s head of legal services, said the utility was confident of a favorable outcome. 

Khatala, meanwhile, reiterated that the Hawks’ investigations were and are being conducted “strictly within the law.”