Fire at Pretoria Substation Leaves Kloofsig in the Dark, Residents Without Electricity for 2 Days

• The Kloofsig electricity substation in Centurion suffered severe damage due to a fire which started in the early hours of yesterday morning
• The blaze caused the area to be left in the dark as their electricity supply was interrupted and has not yet been restored
• The City of Tshwane municipality has released a statement saying that they are investigating what caused the fire

PRETORIA - Residents in Kloofsig, Pretoria have not had electricity for two days due to a fire at a substation that cut off the area's power supply.

The City of Tshwane released a statement saying that Kloofsig's power should be back by mid-morning today (23 December), but they added that the timing is just an estimate and is not guaranteed.

In their statement, the municipality said that their teams worked all night to restore the electricity supply and that they will first test the repaired power cables before switching on the area's electricity to ensure the problem has properly been fixed.

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How the restoration of power to Kloofsig will work

News24 reports that the fire started in the early hours of the morning yesterday (22 December) at Centurion's Kloofsig substation. The fire resulted in severe damage to the substation before it was extinguished.

The City of Tshwane said that they are busy investigating what caused the fire. They repaired the cables by midnight but needed to conduct extensive testing before the electricity supply could be restored.

The municipality said that it will keep residents updated as to when their power will be restored. At the time of publishing, the electricity in Kloofsig had not yet been turned back on.

Reactions to Pretoria substation fire

@Ahmed22191214 asked:

"Substation fires are increasing exponentially. Are they soft targets for saboteurs?"

@Jacodc40 said:

"Coincidence? I think not! Cape Town first, now Pretoria: sabotage or coordinated attack?"

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@GatvolinSA shared:

"It's day 2 and it's raining. Power is still not available. I have medicine that needs to be kept cool. What is Tshwane's view on this?"

@lootgous asked:

"Please let us know: what is the cause of these fires?"

@Nolz_ml said:

"Thought I was the only one."

Electricity disconnection angers Soweto residents, protests block the highway

Previously, Briefly News reported that a group of Soweto residents held a protest against Eskom disconnecting their electricity supply. During the protest, the residents blocked off part of the Soweto highway and threw bricks.

The cause of the protest is Eskom shutting off the electricity supply to 700 homes in Soweto and charging residents an R6 000 reconnection fee. Eskom says this their decision is based on many residents in the area not paying for electricity.

Wayne Minnaar, a spokesperson for the Johannesburg Metro Police Department, said that motorists should find alternative routes to avoid the part of the highway that was affected by the protest.

Source: Briefly News