Joburg suburbs in darkness as veld fires burn under transmission lines

Several suburbs in Johannesburg were without power on Tuesday night, with City Power blaming veld fires burning under electricity transmission lines in City Deep.

City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said restoring the power supply would soon commence after the widespread outage that affected several parts of the city.

“The veld fires underneath the high transmission lines in City Deep have been found to be the cause of the power supply interruption. The flames caused two 88kV breakers on transformers 1 & 3 from Prospect Substation to trip this evening around 6pm,” Mangena said.

He said several substations that are fed from Prospect subsequently lost supply, but operators and protection personnel are on site to start restoring it.

“The Mulbarton/Mondeor and Robertsham 88kV line has been isolated, and the power supply will be gradually restored.”

Mangena said City Power has previously cautioned residents of Johannesburg against contributing to sparking veld fires, which are particularly close to servitudes.

He added that while the actual fire could damage their infrastructure, the dense smoke underneath the transmission lines often creates conditions for the network to trip, leading to widespread outages.

City Power has not provided an estimated time for power restoration to affected areas. 

The following areas have been affected:

• Ormonde;
• Robertsham;
• Mulbarton;
• Linmyer;
• Bassonia;
• Glenvista;
• Mondeor;
• Wemmer;
• Mulbarton;
• Cleveland;
• Moffat;
• Kazerne;
• Central;
• Siemert;
• City Deep;
• Benrose;
• Bertrams;
• Doornfontein;
• Droste Park;
• Heriotdale;
• Aeroton;
• Aspen Hills;
• Booysens;
• Booysens Reserve;
• Evans Park;
• Rosettenville;
• Roseacre;
• The Hill;
• Risana;
• Moffat View;
• Reuven;
• Stafford and surrounding areas.

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