Joburg suburbs hit by widespread power outage

Several suburbs in and around Johannesburg were hit by a widespread power outage just before 2pm on Friday.

City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said: "This is due to the trip on an Eskom line in the north that was undergoing planned maintenance earlier today which affected several of our substations - at least 20 of them with each servicing at least 10 suburbs.

"So it's a huge area. We are working closely with Eskom to try to restore power," said Mangena.

He could not confirm when the power would be back.

"We apologise for the inconvenience."

Business and homeowners vented their frustration on social media, directing a stream of tweets at City Power.

They reported power being down in several areas,  including Craighall, Parkhurst, Hyde Park, Randburg, Sandton, Midrand, Auckland Park and Braamfontein.

Eskom warned earlier in the day that the risk of load-shedding continued - but there was no immediate indication that the outages reported across Johannesburg were related to load-shedding.

"The power system ... remains tight and vulnerable and while Eskom is making every effort to limit load-shedding, it could be implemented at short notice should there be a shift in plant performance," Eskom said earlier.

This is a developing story.