Johannesburg City Power believes it’s unfair that the High Court in the city has ruled that it has to rebuild houses that it has denied demolishing, in the Alexandra township, in August this year.

The South African Human Rights Commission brought the case on behalf of the 27 affected community members.

This, after the power utility reportedly demolished households without a court order.

City Power says it discovered that the structures were built on its electricity servitude, which hindered their operation during a prolonged power outage in the area.

City Power’s spokesperson Isaac Mangena says they are pinning their hopes on a mediation process.

“So, the community itself, not City Power, demolished those houses to ensure that they allow City Power access to deal with the repairs and restore electricity, which we’ve done, but we were surprised that the Human Rights Commission decided to basically take this matter to the court.  And try to force the courts to rule that City Power to rebuild some of the structures, and I think it is really unfair, but we’re hoping that the mediation process that was also initiated by the courts can also maybe be able to shine a light on a problem that we’re facing as City Power.”