One of South Africa's most popular power bank brands had its Chinese certification revoked and its factory has been shut down for well over a year.
Several popular power banks that may have landed in South Africa were recalled overseas over manufacturing defects that could lead to fires, but were never pulled from local shelves.
MyBroadband recently reported on a recall of the ESR HaloLock Wireless Power Banks due to a potential fire risk.
The National Consumer Commission (NCC) announced the recall in a statement in April 2026, advising users to stop using the products immediately and return them to their supplier.
The recall was at least the second for a power bank in South Africa in a year, the other being a recall of two Belkin BoostCharge USB-C power banks in November 2025.
Following the ESR HaloLock recall, a MyBroadband forum member pointed out two international recalls of power banks that received no attention in South Africa.
Firstly, Anker initiated voluntary recalls of five of its power bank models after internal audits revealed that lithium-ion cells from one of its suppliers could overpressurise and overheat.
The issue could cause the power banks to melt or catch fire. The affected models were as follows:
MyBroadband could not find any record of these power banks being sold directly in South Africa. However, even if not officially distributed locally, they could still have reached the market.
Many e-commerce marketplaces in the US and other overseas markets offer shipping to South Africa. In cases where direct shipping might not be available, consumers can use package-forwarding services.
The second recall was for power banks from Romoss, a brand widely sold in South Africa. In July 2025, the company issued a recall for nearly half a million power banks at risk of catching fire.
Left: Air hostess on Hong Kong Airlines flight attempting to extinguish a Romoss power bank that caught fire. Right: Damage resulting from the power bank fire.
The issue was so serious that the Chinese government revoked Romoss’s 3C certification for all power banks, and the company was forced to suspend production.
The action came after several third-party incidents, including a Romoss power bank catching fire onboard a Hong Kong Airlines flight.
The recall affected three 20,000mAh Romoss models — PAC20-272, PAC20-392, and PLT20A-152 — manufactured between 5 June 2023 and 31 July 2024.
A search of historical online listings showed that at least one of the models — the PAC20-272 — was available in South Africa.
However, it was unclear whether the models sold locally were manufactured within the affected timeframe.
Nonetheless, South African consumers should tread carefully if considering a Romoss power bank that reached the market before the company was shut down, as it appears to be defunct.
This was initially only supposed to last for six months, but was extended to a full year in an internal notice sent to employees on 31 December 2025.
In January 2026, the company issued a “Rebirth Plan” to resume production. However, as of August 2026, that has not happened.
Recent court records showed Romoss had roughly 20.56 million yuan (R48.95 million) in enforcement claims against it, alongside multiple equity freezes on the company and its investments.
In addition, the company has changed investors three times within two months, with founders Lei Guibin and Lei Canhuo exiting the shareholder register entirely.
The company’s official online flagship store is unmaintained, with product pages redirecting mostly to charging cables and chargers rather than power banks.
MyBroadband asked the National Consumer Commission (NCC) whether the Anker or Romoss power banks would have affected South African consumers, but it did not respond by the time of publication.
