Joburg City Power making progress with burnt M1 cable, but restoration not in sight just yet

Joburg City Power said on Sunday that its teams were making progress in clearing rubble from tunnels along the M1 highway following a fire earlier this week that plunged many areas into darkness.

The widespread outage affects areas such as Parktown, Braamfontein, Newtown and the Joburg CBD and initial intentions to restore power by backfeeding through alternative substations were later deemed unfeasible for most affected areas.

The entity said there were no alternative methods available to provide supply to the affected customers as the city did not have enough generators to power all affected suburbs.

City power said damage assessment of the electricity infrastructure had been completed and that work was currently under way to clear the rubble in the affected tunnels.

Once this is complete, the utility provider would be in a better position to estimate restoration time.

“We want to assure our valued customers that we are committed to rehabilitating the damaged electricity infrastructure and restore supply as soon as we are able to. However, this will take a while,” City Power said in a statement issued on Sunday.

“We apologise for the inconvenience this causes and appeal for patience as we work on repairs. We will continue to provide updates on developments on site.”

During the inspection, the team discovered that 300 metres of copper cable had been cut and stolen, proving earlier theories that the fire had been caused by criminal tampering.

As IOL reported on Thursday City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said tools such as hacksaw, cutter, screwdrivers and a cell phone had been discovered at the scene of the fire.

The blaze broke out on Tuesday night and after being extinguished initially by emergency services, it flared up again in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

IOL