Power fully restored to Joburg suburbs following fire at Eikenhof substation

Johannesburg City Power says power has been fully restored to the suburbs that were cut off after the Eikenhof substation caught fire on Monday.

The transformer caught alight on Monday afternoon‚ plunging many parts of Johannesburg into darkness. According to City Power‚ tests on the two transformers supplying electricity to residents and Rand Water were completed on Tuesday night and they are now able to provide full electricity supply to all the suburbs affected by the fire.

"The damage to the infrastructure was so severe that it would have taken at least 72 hours to fix it and restore power to the residents. But the dedication and hard work of the engineers and technicians who worked tirelessly around the clock ensured that 32 hours later power was restored. We thank them for putting everything into to this operation to ensure our customers get electricity as soon as possible‚" said Lerato Setshedi‚ City Power’s chief executive.

“City Power will continue to work to bring back other two transformers to ensure we have backup supply options to the substation.”

The entity said it will on Wednesday be reconnecting overhead lines that were severely damaged during the fire‚ and put up a new transformer to replace the one that was completely gutted.

All this would not interrupt power supply to consumers‚ businesses or Rand Water‚ City Power said.

“As expected it will take a little while for water reservoirs to fill up to ensure full supply of water to the residents affected. This is due to the fact that the reservoirs were completely empty and need to fill up first and pack up pressure before everyone can have full supply of water. We urge residents to bear with us on this one‚” Setshedi said.

She said City Power is finalising its investigation into the cause of the fire and the cost of repairs.

On Tuesday‚ Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba tweeted that he was told that the cause of the fire at the Eikenhof might have been sabotage.

"This afternoon‚ it was brought to my attention that City Power officials suspect that the cause of the fire at Eikenhof substation on Monday may have been the result of a deliberate act of sabotage‚” Mashaba said.

He said the City is offering R100,000 to anyone who has information on the alleged perpetrators.