Fires, theft and vandalism hamper restoration of power at Joburg central substation

Damage from fires and infrastructure theft has further delayed restoration of electricity from Johannesburg’s central substation in Marshalltown, City Power said, leaving large parts of the inner city without supply as repairs and security work continue.

Repeated incidents and mounting costs

City Power reported more than 10 major incidents affecting the central substation across the 2025-26 and 2026-27 financial years. During the 2025-26 year the utility spent approximately R260 million on repairs arising from theft and vandalism, compared with approximately R235.4 million in 2024-25.

The utility said that 10 incidents in the 2025-26 financial year cost the city more than R4 million to fix, and that two fires last month each caused at least R20 million in damage. Since January 2026 City Power recorded six fire-related incidents involving its infrastructure, of which four have been confirmed to include elements of theft and vandalism.

Recent timeline

City Power said the first fire at the substation started at 1am on 9 September, hours after supply had been re-established at 7pm on 8 September following an initial outage reported on 6 September. A second incident at the central substation occurred on Saturday, 26 September.

The utility also linked past outages to theft: an outage that started at about 3am on Monday, 3 August was attributed by City Power to the theft of protection cables. In April, the company said a major outage of about one week followed a substation fire and subsequent theft of electrical components during repairs.

Vulnerability in the tunnel network

City Power described an underground tunnel network supplying the inner city as increasingly vulnerable. The network, it said, is approximately 14km long and contains around 81 manholes, with several substations physically linked to it, including Central, Fordsburg, City Gen, Durban Street, Bree, Kazerne, Pritchard and Braamfontein.

“The network has increasingly become vulnerable to criminal activity, including unauthorised access to underground infrastructure, cable theft, vandalism and the removal of electricity components,” City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said.

Impact on residents and businesses

City Power said the flashover on a breaker last Sunday required isolation of the substation. Customers supplied from central substation will therefore remain without electricity, the utility listed affected supply areas including End Street, Wemmer West, Wemmer East, Selby Central, Anderson Street West, Commissioner Street West, Selby East, Carlton Centre, Albert Street West, Commissioner Street East, Fox Street West, Marshall Street East, Marshall Street West and Anderson Street East.

DA shadow MMC for infrastructure Tyrell Meyers said residents and businesses have been negatively affected and that City Power needs more than R1 billion to secure the tunnel network and substations. He cited a business that had to spend over R100,000 on diesel to keep operating.

Security and repair measures under way

Mangena said City Power has requested urgent police intervention and has written to the Gauteng police commissioner, Lieutenant-General Tommy Mthombeni.

“Theft and vandalism result in repeated emergency repairs, security interventions, additional staff and material costs, and can prolong electricity outages.”

City Power outlined requested actions including day and night patrols around manholes, tunnel entrances, substations and identified hotspots; intelligence-led operations in the tunnels; joint operations involving SAPS, JMPD and City Power’s risk control team; and investigations into networks involved in receiving, transporting and purchasing stolen electricity infrastructure.

The utility is also planning a R40 million tunnel rehabilitation project that would include structural repairs, lighting, ventilation, drainage and improved security measures.

Current status

As of Monday afternoon, power at the central substation had not been restored, City Power said.