Electricity supply to large parts of the Johannesburg CBD is expected to be restored by Friday, after days of darkness following a fire at the Bree substation, City Power said on Monday.
The outage, which began in the early hours of Friday, has left residents and businesses without electricity in Newtown, parts of Parktown, Braamfontein, Bree West, Bank City, Ferreirasdorp, Marshalltown, and sections of the CBD.
While City Power spokesperson Issac Mangena said significant progress has been made, affected residents told TimesLIVE the past few days have been marked by spoilt food, safety fears and disruptions to daily life.
Thabiso Nkumane, who lives in a flat near Bree Street West, said: “I had to throw away everything in my fridge. Meat, milk, and frozen food were all rotten. The flat is dark at night, and it doesn’t feel safe. You hear every sound, and you’re always on edge.”
Another resident, Lerato Nkosi from Braamfontein, said the outage has made her flat feel unlivable.
“By the time it gets dark, you just want to leave. There’s no power, no lights, and no charging your phone properly. It doesn’t feel secure, especially as a woman living alone,” said Nkosi.
Mangena said mop-up operations at the Bree substation are at an advanced stage, with debris, rubble and burnt infrastructure expected to be cleared by Monday evening.
Once completed, technical teams will begin testing transformers and feeder boards to assess whether electricity can be safely backfed to affected areas.
“In parallel, rehabilitation work is under way to assess the full extent of the damage and determine which electrical components need to be repaired or replaced,” said City Power.
The fire created hazardous conditions at the substation, including structural damage, residual heat, smoke, carbon fumes, and transformer oil contamination.
City Power said the cause of the fire has not yet been confirmed.
Affected streets include Diagonal, Harrison, Simmonds, Ntemi Piliso, and Rahima Moosa streets, as well as parts of Bree, Jeppe, Kerk, and Pritchard streets, Bank City, the JCI building, and surrounding areas.
TimesLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.