City Power warns Joburg residents of week-long outages for network maintenance
· Citizen
Several Johannesburg suburbs face scheduled power cuts this week as City Power carries out essential substation maintenance to improve network reliability.
City Power announced a series of planned power interruptions across Johannesburg this week, affecting suburbs including Orchards, Norwood, City Deep, Bramley, Lenasia and Westgate.
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Spokesperson Isaac Mangena said on Monday that customers should expect “essential maintenance work scheduled to take place this week”.
Why City Power is carrying out the maintenance
According to Mangena, the interruptions are part of a broader effort to upgrade ageing infrastructure.
He explained that “the planned interruption forms part of the utility’s ongoing programme to strengthen, maintain and improve the reliability and stability of the electricity network”.
He added that the work would help identify faults before they caused bigger problems.
“Planned maintenance is critical in ensuring that ageing infrastructure is serviced, faulty equipment is identified and replaced, and the risk of unplanned outages is reduced.”
Areas and substations affected
The Orchards Substation outage ran from 9am to 5pm on Monday, affecting areas including Fairmont, Orange Grove and Norwood.
On Tuesday, the Moffat Substation was switched off from 8am and will be back on at 4pm, hitting City Deep, Transnet and parts of Heidelberg.
Wednesday will see work at the Cydna Substation and the Lenasia South Ext 4 Switching Station, while Thursday’s maintenance covers the Gresswold Substation and Ennerdale Ext 6 Switching Station.
The Westgate Switching Station outage, affecting Westgate Shopping Centre, is expected to run from Thursday until Saturday.
Safety advice for residents
Mangena urged residents to remain cautious throughout the outage period.
He warned that “customers are advised to treat all electrical supply points as live at all times during the interruption period, as power supply may be restored earlier than anticipated”.
He also recommended switching off devices, noting that “customers are also encouraged to unplug appliances during the outage to avoid possible damage when electricity supply is restored.”
City Power apologised for the inconvenience caused by the work.
Mangena said the utility “appreciates the patience and cooperation of customers as this essential work is undertaken to improve the reliability, safety and stability of the electricity network”.