Can my landlord cut the electricity if I haven't paid my rent?

The long answer

There are two questions here:

1. Is the owner allowed to cut off the electricity because you hadn’t paid your rent?

2. Can the owner demand that you pay a month in advance (September) as well as the rent you owe (August)?

Let’s take question 1 first:

1. A landlord may not cut off a tenant’s electricity even if he is in arrears with the rent. This would be considered an illegal eviction. Our courts have ruled that landlords cannot take matters into their own hands and cut off electricity without a court order. Only the municipality or Eskom can cut off electricity for non-payment. Cutting off your power because you failed to pay your rent is called “self-help” by the courts, and this self-help is illegal. 

The Rental Housing Act 50 of 1999 says that anyone who cuts off the electricity without a court order can be fined or sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. 

The Western Cape government says the landlord is supposed to issue you with a formal letter of demand giving you a set time (usually 7 to 20 days) to pay the outstanding rent. If you don’t pay within the given time, the landlord must get a court order to evict you. 

In the 2023 case of Kgwele and Others v SK Enterprise and Others, the High Court in Johannesburg found once more that landlords cannot disconnect electricity without a court order, even if the tenant owed rent. 

2. Taking the second question of whether the landlord has the right to demand that you pay a month in advance (September) as well as the rent you owe (August): No, the landlord cannot just change the terms of an existing rent agreement to demand an extra month's rent in advance because you owe rent for August.

Goldberg & de Villiers Inc. explains that rent is paid in arrears – for the month that has passed – not in advance, and the landlord cannot demand a month in advance.

So how can you get your power turned back on?

You can go to the magistrate’s court for an urgent spoliation order: this is also called a “mandament van spolie”, which means restoring the situation to what it was before your electricity was cut off. In the case of Zungu v Nilgra Flats, Judge Adams explained that because no one has the right to take the law into their own hands, the court will grant an order to restore the situation to what it was before, without going into the rights and wrongs of the matter, like the unpaid rent. That is a spoliation order. And that spoliation order will order your electricity to be switched back on immediately.

Fairbridges sums it up like this: South African courts rule that electricity and water are part of your peaceful possession of the home. Disturbing that possession without a court order is illegal. A spoliation order is an urgent legal tool used to reverse this. 

To prepare for that, you should collect evidence: take photos of the meter box and save any text messages or emails where the owner admits to turning off the power or demanding a month’s rent in advance before he will put the power back on.

You could ask Legal Aid for assistance with the spoliation order: it is a means-tested organisation that must help people who cannot afford a lawyer. These are their contact details:

Legal Aid Advice Line (Toll-free): 0800 110 110

Please-Call-Me number: 079 835 7179

Tel: 0800 110 110 (From Monday to Friday, from Fri 8 am to 4 pm)

Please-Call-Me: 079 835 7179 

Email: [email protected]

Wishing you the best,
Athalie