JOHANNESBURG, Gauteng — The number of reported City Power outages in Johannesburg has surged dramatically, jumping from an initial 2,400 to over 3,600 as dropping temperatures drive a sharp increase in residential electricity demand. The municipal utility is now appealing to residents to strictly manage and reduce their energy consumption to prevent further strain on an already fragile network.
According to City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena, the sharp spike in faults was largely triggered by a major incident at the Delta intake substation early in the morning. An overhead line snapped and tripped, temporarily plunging nearly 30 substations into darkness. This fault heavily impacted areas south of the inner city, including Mayfair, Braamfontein, North Riding, and Parktown.
The widespread blackout extended beyond residential areas, disrupting critical municipal services. Joburg Water experienced interruptions in pumping operations at the Crosby and Brixton reservoirs. Furthermore, the Charlotte Maxeke health precinct—home to the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital and several private clinics—was left without power. Mangena confirmed that while most of these large-scale outages were restored by lunchtime, technicians were conducting final tests to ensure full grid stability ahead of the evening peak demand.
When addressing the underlying causes of the utility’s ongoing struggles, Mangena pointed directly to criminality as the most significant hurdle. Cable theft and persistent vandalism have severely compromised the city’s electrical grid over the past financial year, undoing recent infrastructure investments. Compounding the issue is the age of the network, with some equipment operating for 65 to 70 years. The wear-and-tear from national load shedding has further battered this aging infrastructure, leaving patched underground cables vulnerable to faults when water seeps into weak joints.
Inclement weather is further complicating restoration efforts. Mangena noted that rain not only causes road flooding and uproots trees, but also hinders the specialized machinery used to locate underground faults. Trenching in wet conditions allows water to seep into exposed cables, creating additional failure points. While the utility’s standard protocol is to update customers every four hours, severe weather conditions inevitably extend these turnaround times as technicians navigate difficult terrain.
With localized faults still affecting some residents following the mass restorations, the utility has asked the public to log individual outage calls so technicians can pinpoint and resolve specific neighborhood issues. As the cold front persists, City Power continues to urge the public to use electricity sparingly to help stabilize the grid and prevent further localized trips.