The City of Tshwane blamed vandalism for the fire at Olievenhoutbosch Substation fire. Picture: X/@eugene_modise Thousands of residents in the City of Tshwane have had a dark festive season after two substations blew up and were engulfed in flames. On Saturday, the DA’s Tshwane mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink said it was day number six of a widespread power outage in the capital.
The areas affected include Sunnyside, Queenswood, Brooklyn, Collyn, Wonderboom South, Arcadia, Menlopark, Mayville, Waverley, Groenkloof, Rietfontein, Gezina and Sunset View. “The cause was due to a major hailstorm last Sunday; however, the weather event was not unusual, and not the biggest or one of the biggest storms the city has seen,” he said. Brink said the reason for the power outage is that Tshwane’s infrastructure is fragile and there aren’t enough electricity teams or resources.
“What was unusual was a lack of a crisis management response. This is a crisis. There are businesses, households and elderly folks without power,” he added.
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“This is the result of basic service budget cuts, to spend money on water tankers and other ANC business interests.” City of Tshwane spokesperson Lindela Mashigo confirmed the fire at the Koedoespoort Substation building. He also blamed vandalism. “The city’s Energy and Electricity Business Unit teams responded immediately, with the Emergency Services Department also dispatched to the scene and currently on site.
Fire and emergency personnel are actively managing the incident, securing the area and supporting technical teams to ensure the situation is stabilised safely,” he said. Mashigo said as part of precautionary safety measures, technicians have isolated the Rooiwal 132kV Line, which has resulted in electricity supply interruptions affecting the Pumulani, Waltloo and Koedoespoort Substations and the areas they supply. He added that the technical teams were also isolating Line 2, with the intention of safely switching off the substation in full to allow emergency operations and technical assessments to proceed without risk.
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