A fire broke out after suspected cable theft under the M1 highway, near Braamfontein.
Roads gridlocked, horizon smoked up, a city in darkness. This was the scene residents of Johannesburg woke up to on Thursday, following a fire below one of the city’s main arteries.
A fire, allegedly caused by a failed attempt at cable theft on Tuesday, left parts of the CBD, Braamfontein, Newtown, Fordsburg, and Parktown. It was extinguished late on Wednesday, but power was yet to be restored by Thursday morning.
City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said criminals may have taken time to access underground cables.
“It seems like over time, these people have enough time on their hands to do this dirty work. Some of these slabs are difficult to lift. They are very heavy, and we have no idea how they accessed them.”
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Outages
In a statement on Thursday, City Power advised customers in affected areas that it was working on providing an alternative supply to affected areas. These included Parktown, Mayfair, Vrededorp and Pageview.
A separate statement said a team would soon assess damage caused to electricity infrastructure, but this could only get underway once the smoke had cleared and the temperature in affected tunnels had cooled.
“Work towards restoration is expected to start at midday it all is in order, where rubble will be cleared and assessments to determine the extent of the damage is done. Findings will determine the course or operations. Restoration of supply will be determined by work that has to be performed on site,” it read.
According to the utility, temperatures in the tunnels had reached around 200°C on Wednesday.
Cable theft is the most common cause of outages in Johannesburg, some interruptions lasting up to eight hours. Between 2017 and 2022, cable theft and vandalism cost the council as much as R187 million.
