Second explosion at Joburg substation leaves thousands without electricity - IOL

City Power is racing to restore electricity to parts of Johannesburg after a second explosion at its Mayfair substation knocked out the entire facility, affecting hospitals, the SABC and several surrounding suburbs.

Thousands of Johannesburg residents and businesses remain without electricity after a second explosion at the Mayfair substation disrupted restoration efforts, with City Power warning that repairs are still underway.

The explosion occurred shortly after technical teams started restoring electricity at approximately 18:00, cutting supply to customers who had not been affected by the initial incident.

City Power expressed regret over the incident, saying the fire department responded and contained the situation.

“The fire department responded and managed to contain the situation before huge damage could happen. The area has since been cordoned off and will remain restricted until it has been declared safe for technical teams to re-enter the station,” the utility said.

On Tuesday, City Power began assessing the damage, with technical teams working on repair plans and alternative supply routes.

The site has since been cleared for technical teams to access the damaged infrastructure.

“Teams are preparing to remove burnt equipment, including dismantling the damaged panel, while dry-icing arrangements are being made to clean the affected infrastructure and assess what can be salvaged.”

City Power said the assessment would establish the full extent of the damage and determine the materials required to carry out repairs.

“The cause of the explosion remains unknown and will be determined through a thorough investigation.”

It said a separate technical team is exploring alternative supply routes, including through the Hursthill substation, to determine whether electricity can be restored gradually while repairs continue.

The outage affected the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) in Auckland Park, Garden City Hospital in Mayfair, as well as residential and business customers in Mayfair, Crown, Vrededorp, Brixton, Crosby, Pageview, Homestead Park and Amalgam.

Essential services, including healthcare facilities and water supply, have also been affected.

Speaking to the SABC on Wednesday morning, City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said the initial restoration of electricity lasted only a few minutes before another explosion caused the supply to trip.

“The restoration held for a few minutes, but [then] the ones that did [trip] happened, which the team is basically busy trying to ascertain as to what caused that outage.

“Unfortunately, it had to take us back and also knock out some of the areas that were initially not even affected by that.”

Mangena said emergency services had to first declare the scene safe before technical teams could return to the substation and assess the damage.

He said the process took time, with Emergency Management Services (EMS) having to secure the area before repair work could begin.

“Almost like 12 hours after that explosion, the [Emergency Management Services] had to basically make sure that the scene is safe before the team can go back into the site, so that they can then do the clearing, the assessments, determine the extent of the damage, determine what material is needed, and then the repairs started early yesterday.

“So that is where we are currently.”

Asked about the progress of repairs and when residents could expect electricity to be restored, Mangena said technical teams were working to repair the damaged infrastructure.

He said the damage was extensive, particularly because of the initial fire that occurred before the second explosion during the restoration process.

“I just spoke to the team now, the general manager leading the team, the restoration efforts in the area. So the team has done tremendous work... and they were on site, basically fixing it, because it seems like the extent of the damage was huge, especially considering that there was an initial fire before this explosion happened during the restoration.”

He said teams had been cleaning the feeder boards and replacing damaged cables.

“The cables that are feeding SABC, the work is actually progressing quite quickly. I think they should be able to restore SABC by later this afternoon.”

Mangena said other areas, including Brixton, Crosby and Pageview, remained without electricity.

He added that hospitals and other essential services in the affected areas were a priority to minimise disruptions.

“So for the areas around Park [town], we are looking at finishing the repairs of those cables that were affected by this afternoon, and if everything goes according to plan, we should be restoring this evening.”

City Power has not provided a confirmed restoration time for all affected areas.