City Power says Electricity will be back by Monday in Joburg CBD
JOHANNESBURG — City Power has set Monday as the deadline to restore electricity to remaining parts of Johannesburg’s inner city after repeated substation fires and suspected cable theft left businesses and residents battling prolonged outages.
The utility said supply had already been restored to the Carlton Centre and Standard Bank, while Selby was being supplied through an alternative route as technicians continued repairs to damaged infrastructure. (ewn.co.za)
The restoration follows a difficult September for the CBD, where the Central Substation suffered three fires during the month. One of the latest incidents occurred shortly after electricity had been restored following an outage lasting about two weeks.
City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said cables supplying the Carlton Centre and Standard Bank had passed testing and were returned to service. Work on other sections of the network was continuing ahead of Monday’s target.
The utility has linked repeated damage at the Central Substation to suspected vandalism and cable theft. After one fire, technicians discovered an axe, jigsaw and other equipment in underground tunnels, as well as evidence that attempts had been made to cut copper cables. (ewn.co.za)
City Power said the Central Substation has experienced six fires since January, with four showing signs of theft or vandalism.
The repeated failures come as Johannesburg confronts a much larger electricity infrastructure problem. The Centre for Development and Enterprise recently estimated the city’s electricity maintenance backlog at more than R44 billion, with ageing infrastructure responsible for an estimated 60% of outages. (ewn.co.za)
For businesses in the CBD, repeated outages have increased operating costs and disrupted trading, particularly for smaller businesses unable to rely on generators or alternative power.
City Power’s immediate priority is to restore the remaining affected customers by Monday, while the repeated failures at Central Substation continue to expose the vulnerability of Johannesburg’s inner-city electricity network.
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