Eskom on Wednesday said illegal power connections were so widespread that police had not been able to clamp down on the problem.
The utility said some arrests had been made but not enough to protect transformers from exploding due to overloading on the system.
Last month, Eskom announced it had decided to cut power in specific areas for a few hours during peak consumption times.
This week, residents in Katlehong, Soweto and Cosmo City have complained about lengthy outages.
Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Manthantsha said: “We report these matters very well with the police. Some arrests do happen, but unfortunately, I can tell you this is a widespread situation where Eskom is not able to put a security guard on a policeman at every corner of the street.”
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