Sabotage suspected as Central substation fire prolongs Johannesburg CBD outage

Johannesburg's Central Business District (CBD) is still grappling with a power outage on Saturday after another fire erupted at the already compromised Central substation. The outage began on 6 September when a preliminary outage at the substation left parts of Marshalltown and surrounding areas without electricity. Despite City Power restoring power to 98% of the affected area, a fire broke out early Saturday, just as emergency services declared it safe for personnel to enter the site.

City Power has yet to determine the cause of this most recent fire, but has noted its suspicious timing, with the city's power provider stating that the occurrence is deeply concerning. Fire crews secured the scene, but City Power remains unable to pinpoint the cause of the fire or the extent of the damage until further investigations are concluded.

The substation had been damaged by a fire in late April and again on 9 September during the latter stages of City Power's initial restoration efforts following the 6 September outage. Preliminary investigations into the 9 September fire suggested the possibility of sabotage and organized criminal activity targeting the utility. City Power's CEO, Charles Tlouane, expressed his frustration, stating that the repeated incidents of damage to the same critical electricity infrastructure within a short period have been deeply concerning.

In related news, City Power recently confirmed the arrest of three suspects in connection with the theft and vandalism of electricity infrastructure. Two men were detained for stealing 300 meters of aerial bundled cable from a site in Lenasia, while a private security guard discovered a man inside a vandalized electricity chamber on Friday morning.

City Power has vowed to continue working with law enforcement and security partners in pursuit of those responsible for attacks on critical electricity infrastructure.