Joburg rain delays power repairs: City Power issues safety tips

Johannesburg's ongoing rain disrupted power repair efforts on Tuesday, prompting City Power to advise residents to exercise caution. While the wet weather did not significantly increase the number of faults, it caused crews to delay some work. City Power reported that response and restoration times might be longer than usual in certain areas due to the persistent rainfall.

They also noted that technical teams were on standby to address outages, infrastructure damage, flooding-related incidents, and other faults. In Alexandra, heavy rain affected two outages at Gresswold Substation, while work on 10th and 3rd Roads in Kew was paused and later resumed. At Wynberg North, a cable fault was located but repair work was delayed by the rain.

In Hursthill, several outages, including in Mayfair, Northcliff Extension 12, and Franklin Roosevelt Park, were attended to, causing delays in planned restoration. In Midrand, an outage in Austin View was fixed on Monday, but supply continued to trip due to the rainfall, which was later successfully restored. To stay safe during wet weather, City Power urged residents to avoid fallen power lines, exposed cables, damaged electrical equipment, and flooded areas.

They emphasized that people should not attempt to repair electrical faults themselves and to report dangerous situations immediately. Customers were also asked to keep children away from flooded areas and use electricity sparingly to ease pressure on the network as supply returned.