Power restored to large parts of Joburg CBD after M1 fire

City Power has restored power to a significant portion of the Johannesburg inner city following the M1 highway tunnel fire.

Parts of Johannesburg‘s inner city were plunged into darkness earlier this month after underground cables caught alight.

The blaze led to power outages in several parts of the city including Braamfontein, Page View, Parktown, Melville, Amalgam, Vrededop, Johannesburg and surrounding areas.

Restoration

City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said the cable installation from the Bree Substation to Newtown Junction was successfully completed, although with some unforeseen delays.

“We were unable to meet the 14h00 timeframe. The cable has been livened up and is now floating.”

To ensure the safety of customers, the regional power utility has requested emergency isolation to gradually load and restore the power supply to its customers in Newtown Junction Mall and nearby streets, including Carr Street.

“We anticipate that this process may take until early hours of Monday morning, as a result of this development,” Mangena said.

ALSO READ: WATCH: Cutter, cellphone and 200 degrees heat: Inside the fire that darkened Joburg

Mangena warned that as power supply may be restored without prior notice, customers should treat their electricity supply points as live at all times to avoid inrush current and damaging their electrical appliances.

“With these extra efforts from our teams since the fire on the M1 tunnels, almost 85% of the customers have been restored, while repairs are continuing at the site of the fire.” Mangena said.

Cable theft

Last week, the City Power clean-up operations revealed that 300 metres of copper cable was stolen during the recent vandalism that sparked a fire in the Joburg CBD.

Cable theft was alleged to be behind the fire, with City Power security also having to later exchange gunfire with informal settlers who were attempting to steal the burnt cables.

ALSO READ: 300 metres of cable stolen in Joburg M1 fire, as routes on and off highway closed