Power outages persist in parts of Tshwane during festive season

By Johnathan Paoli

Residents across the City of Tshwane have endured a prolonged and disruptive festive season after widespread power outages left several suburbs without electricity for up to six days and counting, exposing deep challenges in the metro’s ageing electricity infrastructure, capacity constraints and vulnerability to vandalism and cable theft.

The outages, which began following a major hailstorm and were later worsened by fires at key substations, have affected large parts of Pretoria, including Sunnyside, Queenswood, Brooklyn, Colbyn, Wonderboom South, Arcadia, Menlo Park, Mayville, Waverley, Groenkloof, Rietfontein, Gezina and Sunset View.

Additional areas such as Kilner Park, Koedoespoort, Pumulani and Waltloo have also experienced sustained disruptions, while communities in the city’s southern and western regions were hit by a separate substation fire at Olievenhoutbosch.

DA Tshwane mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink said on Saturday that the capital was entering its sixth consecutive day of a widespread blackout, describing the situation