Angela Rivers, head of the Johannesburg Property Owners and Managers Association, led a group of private-sector stakeholders on an underground tour of the Central Substation on Friday, 16 October. According to Daily Maverick, the group inspected stolen cables, broken equipment and fire-damaged feeder boards to understand the technical challenges facing City Power. Rivers noted that the utility’s willingness to show the physical damage changed her perspective on the restoration efforts.

The tour highlighted that an ageing feeder board from the 1980s failed before a new replacement could be fully installed. City Power reported that this old equipment caught fire and exploded on the evening of 14 October, during an attempt to restore electricity. By Saturday, the utility stated that approximately 80% of protection cables had been laid and testing of key equipment was underway. The estimated restoration date for the Central Substation is Tuesday, 20 October, subject to successful safety clearances.

Security remains a significant challenge for the infrastructure. Daily Maverick reported that the substation is under 24-hour armed security, yet thieves continue to access the network through multiple points in the 14km of cable tunnels. City Power has replaced some copper cables with aluminium to reduce theft and is working with police and private security firms. The utility has also approached the Defence Ministry for assistance, though South African National Defence Force deployment has not yet been confirmed.

Repairs are ongoing across other parts of the inner city. At Fort Substation, electricity was fully restored after teams repaired 17 medium-voltage cables damaged in a fire on 12 October. This restoration returned power to areas including Hillbrow, Braamfontein and the Johannesburg CBD. However, at Selby Substation, a 6km cable replacement was delayed by further vandalism, with restoration targeted for Saturday.

The economic impact of the outages has been substantial for property owners. Rivers reported that vacancy levels among affected buildings increased from 3% to 20%, with some structures losing up to 20 tenants in a month. Owners have spent significant amounts on diesel generators and emergency water. A further round-table discussion between JPOMA and City Power senior officials is scheduled for 27 October to discuss long-term infrastructure projects.