ETA for Orlando substation is Tuesday morning, City Power

Ninety percent of the work has been completed at the Soweto substation and City Power says if all goes according to plan the work will be done by Tuesday at 10am.

The feeder board at the substation was burnt in the early hours of Thursday after high-tension jumpers were broken at the Orlando switching station. The broken jumpers led to a chain of events that resulted in a fire at the Soweto substation. Investigations point to theft and vandalism.

City Power said on Monday a new feeder board has been connected to the transformer.

“The cable that failed the pressure testing has been repaired and terminations and cable jointing have been completed. Most of the work was done at the weekend, such as earthing, which is critical to safeguard the substation from risks.

“This morning the pressure release valve on the transformer was tested and cleared. The team, however, experienced a glitch after installing the coil in the breaker. They installed two coils as a backup, but both burnt at different times and the reason for this has been determined.

“The team is repairing fibre at the substation to make up for the coils,” said Isaac Mangena, City Power spokesperson.

The damage at the Soweto substation means the areas fed from it, including Pimville Zone 9, Ekhaya Orlando, Baragwanath Hospital, University of Johannesburg, Power Park, Doornkop military base and Motsoaledi, have been without power since Thursday.

TimesLIVE

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.