Suspected cable theft investigated after Johannesburg Central Substation fire

City Power reported tools and partly cut copper cables beneath a damaged feeder board. The fire disrupted supply in Marshalltown and surrounding parts of the CBD.

The fire was reported at about 04:00 on Saturday, 26 September, in the underground tunnels at Central Substation. Smoke kept technical teams out until emergency services cleared the site. When they went in on Sunday, City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said, they found tools associated with cable theft, an axe, a jigsaw and other kit, mostly under the damaged feeder board. There were marks of attempts to cut the copper cables attached to that board.

City Power said preliminary observations suggested that tampering may have caused the explosion and fire. The affected section was handed to police for examination, with technical crews withdrawing to preserve the scene.

Injured suspect under police guard

City Power said a suspected vandal had suffered serious burns and was in a critical condition in hospital under police guard. Spokesperson Isaac Mangena said more than one person may have been involved and that investigators were considering possible organised criminal targeting of the underground network.

Repairs and restoration

The outage affected Marshalltown and nearby parts of the inner city. Repair work had to proceed alongside the police investigation, with crews first needing safe access to the tunnels and damaged equipment. The utility’s assessment of possible criminal involvement remained preliminary.

City Power said repairs were expected to start on Monday, 28 September, once conditions allowed. In the account reported by TimesLIVE that day, the utility had not yet supplied a restoration estimate and was assessing alternative supply points. That report did not confirm when customers would be reconnected.

The incident left the utility facing two immediate tasks: restoring electricity and establishing how the underground equipment was damaged. Police findings will be needed to determine responsibility. Customers need a separate operational update from City Power on repairs and reconnection in their area.

Latest update — 1 October 2026

City Power’s 28 September repair update confirmed that teams had resumed work, including cleaning damaged infrastructure, replacing stolen equipment and testing sections of the network. Supply would be restored in stages as each section was confirmed safe. The utility did not give an estimated restoration time in that update.

EWN’s reporting on the morning of 1 October continued to describe an outage affecting large parts of the CBD. The reports reviewed for this update did not establish a complete reconnection timetable. Progress on repairs should therefore not be read as confirmation that every affected building has power again.

The disruption is also placing pressure on livelihoods. Sowetan’s 28 September report described Marshalltown residents and businesses struggling with repeated outages. One barber-shop operator said he was spending at least R3,000 on diesel almost every week to keep operating.

City Power told Sowetan that the inner-city network includes approximately 14 kilometres of underground tunnels and 81 manholes, and acknowledged weaknesses in access control. Alongside repairs, residents need clear information on which areas have been restored and how the network will be protected against further interference.