Burning tyres, blocked roads and four arrests marked a second day of protests in East Lynne today (October 5), as residents demanded urgent action from the City of Tshwane after days without electricity.

According to Pretoria Rekord residents blocked key routes near Baviaanspoort Road on Sunday (October 4) and again this morning as frustration mounted over the prolonged outage.

Ward 87 councillor Freddie Pienaar intervened to calm the situation and persuaded residents to clear the roads to allow municipal repair teams to access the affected area.

Pienaar also urged community members to join local patrols to prevent cable theft during the prolonged outage.

Substation fire leaves thousands without power

The power crisis began on Tuesday ( September 29) when a fire broke out at the 132/11 kV Waltloo Substation.

The blaze left a transformer at the Njala Infeed Substation faulty, causing power outages across multiple wards in the east of Tshwane.

Although power was restored to 90% of affected consumers by Sunday (October 4), East Lynne and Silverton remained without electricity.

Tshwane metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said technical teams were working to restore power supplied by the Koedoespoort Substation, with efforts focused on two newly identified cable faults.

Repair teams locate cable faults

Progress has been made on the first fault, where workers located the damaged cable and completed excavation. The team is now gathering the necessary materials to carry out repairs.

At the second site, testing specialists are working to pinpoint the exact location of the damage before excavation can begin.

Once both cable faults have been repaired, the entire network will be tested for additional damage before electricity can safely be restored.

Mashigo said a restoration time could not be confirmed, as this depends on the progress of the repairs and the results of testing.

Four arrested as protests continue

The Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD) arrested four suspects for public violence during the demonstrations.

TMPD spokesperson Colonel Isaac Mahamba confirmed that officers were monitoring the area to maintain order.

Mahamba said the situation was currently calm and officers would remain on site until normality returned.

The four suspects are expected to appear in court later this week.

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