JOHANNESBURG, Gauteng — The ongoing Mayfair substation power restoration is progressing rapidly as City Power announces the completion of 70 percent of repair work following recent explosions at the facility. City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena confirmed that technical teams are now advancing the first phase of electricity restoration for critical infrastructure and affected Johannesburg suburbs.
The repairs follow a secondary explosion at the substation on Monday evening, which occurred after an initial fire and explosion over the weekend. The severe outage disrupted electricity supply to several areas, including Auckland Park, Melville, Brixton, Crosby, Friador, and surrounding neighborhoods. The blackout also heavily impacted key entities such as the SABC, Sentech, Garden City Hospital, and the China Mall.
To manage the complexities of the damage, City Power has divided the restoration process into distinct phases.
According to Mangena, the utility brought in the Hel substation as a backup to expedite power to essential services. Phase one of the restoration, which targets the Garden City Hospital, China Mall, SABC, and Sentech, is currently 98 percent complete. Mangena noted that a transformer at the Hel substation has been successfully switched on, and teams are finalizing cable terminations and testing. Once testing is concluded, power is expected to be restored to these phase-one customers imminently.
Meanwhile, phase two of the restoration focuses on the Mayfair substation, the epicenter of the explosions. Mangena explained that customers in this zone will not be restored simultaneously. Instead, feeder bots will be brought back to life in a carefully managed, phased approach. This precautionary measure is designed to prevent further explosions, which can occur technically when a plant has been offline for an extended period and is cold.
Despite the phased approach, Mangena provided an optimistic timeline for the broader outage, estimating that all currently affected customers across Mayfair, Brixton, Crosby and surrounding areas could have their power fully restored by the end of the week, potentially by Friday or over the weekend, depending on the final phase of repairs.
Parallel to the technical restoration, comprehensive investigations into the cause of the explosions are underway. Mangena detailed that insurance representatives, Emergency Management Services (EMS), and technical teams have been combing through the rubble since Tuesday midday to identify any technical faults. Remote technical reports have also been pulled to assist in the investigation.
While the exact cause remains under investigation, Mangena emphasized that City Power is not ruling out any possibilities. He highlighted that recent months have seen elements suggesting potential sabotage on the electricity network, particularly in the inner city, as well as in areas like Roodepoort and Lenasia.
In response to these ongoing network vulnerabilities, City Power has called in the police to investigate these activities and arrest any suspects found to be targeting the city’s electricity infrastructure.
