Tshwane spokesperson Selby Bokaba says vandalism and theft are the main causes of outages.
All the residents from Louwlardia in Centurion wanted for Christmas was a new substation and fewer power outages going into the new year, but they will have to settle for 1.3 km feeder cables instead.
Residents from Golden Fields, Heritage Hill and Candlewoods Estate are still waiting for a solution after they collaborated in 2023 and drafted three petitions which were sent to the City of Tshwane regarding the frequent unscheduled power outages.
Golden Fields estate manager Morne Lindeque said Golden Fields and the surrounding estates have been suffering with unscheduled outages since 2020. The situation has since become worse.
“It is a clear-cut matter that Louwlardia urgently needs a new substation and new feeder cables to fix these problems,” he said.
Causes and Responses
Tshwane spokesperson Selby Bokaba said the power outages in Louwlardia, which have been experienced since October 2023, were largely caused by vandalism at the substation and theft of feeder cables.
“In response, the city engaged business partners and ward councillors, which culminated in a community upliftment project. Through this partnership, the substation was upgraded and fitted with enhanced security measures, including CCTV cameras and an electric fence.
“These interventions, implemented in 2025 and funded by business partners, have significantly improved the condition and security of the substation, which is currently stable and well protected,” he said.
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Economic Impact
Bokaba said faults persist on four feeder cables due to water ingress at multiple previously repaired sections.
“To address this decisively, the city has prioritised the full replacement of about 1.3 km of each of the four feeder cables. This work is scheduled for early 2026, following the necessary budget adjustments, and will provide a long-term solution to secure the electricity supply in the area,” he added.
Bokaba said the Louwlardia supply area experienced more outages following recent heavy rain.
In February, Lindeque and ward councillor Gert Visser presented petitions which outlined the severe and frequent power outages from 2020 before the city’s Section 79 oversight committee.
Visser said Louwlardia was the logistics hub of SA due to all the distribution warehouses in the area, such as Checkers, Woolworths and Parmalat.
“These power outages cost the companies hundreds of thousands of rands in diesel reserves to keep generators running.
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“These companies are essential to the food industry and to create jobs and generate revenue for the city.”
City manager Johann Mettler said the Louwlardia secondary substation comprises four main feeder cables from 132/11KV Kosmosdal B substation and several outgoing feeders that supply different industries and residences within the Louwlardia area with a maximum capacity of the substation reaching 30MVA.
Planned solutions
“The main cause of outages in is attributed to mult2iple cable faults from both the incoming cables from Kosmosdal B and the outgoing feeder cables.
“The substation has suffered vandalism and is compromised. This means the protection system at the Kosmosdal B substation will react to any faults experienced on the Louwlardia system.
“As a result, the entire area of Louwlardia is affected.”
But residents said while the replacement of the panels helped, they were back to square one with almost three outages a week this month.
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