A fire that broke out at City Power’s Fordsburg substation on Sunday did not only affect the immediate area.
It plunged many areas in Johannesburg into darkness because the Fordsburg substation is part of an interconnected electricity network for the city.
On Monday morning, many areas in Joburg were still without power and many traffic lights were not working.
According to City Power, isolating the substation had a knock-on effect on other substations and switching stations across Johannesburg.
Initial reports suggested smoke was detected coming from underground cable tunnels at Fordsburg at about 5pm on Sunday. City Power said it then isolated the substation as a safety precaution.
Entity spokesperson Isaac Mangena said the fire mainly affected high-voltage cables running underground.
However, Mangena said Fordsburg is connected to other parts of the electricity network. When it was isolated, substations and switching stations supplied through the Reuven, Lenasia and Hursthill service delivery centres were also affected.
“The shutdown therefore had a knock-on effect on other substations and switching stations supplied through the Reuven, Lenasia and Hursthill service delivery centres. This meant the impact was not limited to Fordsburg,” Mangena said.
Areas supplied by Nancefield, Mayfair, Pennyville, Orlando, Eikenhof, Eldorado Park, Nirvana, Soweto Local, Industria, Bree and Braamfontein substations were affected.
City Power said power was later restored to most affected areas, including parts of Kibler Park, Chrisville, Mayfield Park, Mondeor, Naturena, Eikenhof, Robertsham, Alveda Park, Ormonde, Comptonville, Meredale, Eldorado Park, Nancefield, Nirvana, Soweto, Brixton East, Riverlea, Crosby and Langlaagte.
Electricity to Rand Water was also restored, allowing its pumping operations to resume, the power utility said.
However, the Braamfontein and Johnware substations remained offline by Monday afternoon. Affected areas included parts of the Johannesburg CBD, Newtown, Hillbrow, Parktown, Parktown West, Braamfontein, Mayfair, Bank City, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, Junction Mall and Wits University East Campus.
City Power did not provide a cause for the fire, saying teams were still assessing the damage and determining the appropriate repairs.
The utility had not given a confirmed restoration time for the remaining affected areas, although it was aiming to restore full supply by the end of Monday, depending on the extent of the damage and work required.
Sowetan
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