Joburg CBD Urged to Cut Power Use as City Power Warns of Further Outages

City Power has issued a stern warning to residents and businesses in the Johannesburg CBD, particularly Braamfontein, urging them to drastically reduce electricity consumption to avoid more power outages.

This follows a major fire that broke out on May 1 in an underground tunnel beneath the M1 Bridge near Smit Street. The fire caused severe damage to critical infrastructure, including 11kV and 88kV high-voltage cables linking the Fordsburg and Braamfontein substations.

Interim Measures Under Pressure

Although electricity was restored to parts of Braamfontein on Wednesday, City Power revealed that the current solution is temporary and not designed to handle heavy usage for long periods. A flashover incident on Tuesday once again disrupted supply, highlighting the system’s fragility.

“These interconnectors have been used as part of an interim measure to restore power supply while the bigger project of replacing damaged cables continues,” City Power stated.

Streets Affected

The affected areas earlier this week included:

• Smit West and East

• Showground

• Nico Mostert

• Juta

• Wolmarans

• Jorrisen

• De Korte

• Ameshof

While power has since been restored, City Power cautioned that another overload could plunge these areas back into darkness.

Infrastructure Work Ongoing

Crews have started replacing roughly 1,200 metres of damaged 88kV cable in the M1 tunnel. The Johannesburg Roads Agency has cleared the Carr Street entry point, enabling City Power to begin critical rehabilitation steps.

These include:

• Scaffolding installation

• Cable roller and joint fitting

• Surface preparation inside the tunnel

The utility estimates that full rehabilitation will take about two weeks, depending on weather and site conditions.

Call for Cooperation

City Power thanked residents for their patience and assured the public that teams are working “around the clock” to stabilise the grid.

“Our engineers, technicians, and support staff continue to work tirelessly to rebuild the resilience of the network,” the utility said.

Until full repairs are complete, residents are strongly encouraged to limit electricity usage and report any faults through City Power’s official customer service channels.

{Source: IOL}

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