Residents of Ward 2 and surrounding areas in Pretoria North are voicing growing frustration as ongoing power outages, some exceeding 36 hours, continue to disrupt daily life, strain businesses, and impact vulnerable members of the community.

The power outages began on March 27, and some remain unresolved on March 30.

According to the Tshwane metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo, the outages were initially caused by a fault on a medium-voltage panel at the Van Riebeeck Substation.

He said technicians responded swiftly and conducted preliminary work, including cleaning carbon deposits on affected equipment.

“However, during switching attempts, an additional fault was discovered on a medium-voltage cable within the supply network, preventing full restoration of electricity,” said Mashigo.

Mashigo confirmed that while about 70% of customers have had their power restored, around 30% remain without electricity.

“A dedicated team of test technicians is actively working to locate and isolate the exact point of the cable fault to enable safe and complete restoration,” he said.

He added that there is currently no estimated time of restoration, but further updates will be communicated as progress is made.

Residents have been urged to switch off non-essential electrical appliances to reduce strain on the network as more customers are gradually brought back online.

Ward councillor Quentin Meyer has strongly condemned the prolonged outages, stating that the situation is not only unacceptable but is placing immense pressure on households and businesses.

“Residents have every right to be frustrated. I am actively and continuously putting pressure on the municipality to prioritise these outages.”

Meyer revealed that faults have been escalated repeatedly to higher levels and that he is demanding urgent intervention and accountability from the electricity department.

He attributed the ongoing challenges to ageing and failing infrastructure, which has led to recurring faults, overloaded supply lines, and delays in restoring power.

Further compounding the issue, Meyer confirmed that currently about 70% of Pretoria North is being supplied by a single feeder cable, which is overloaded and under severe pressure.

The second cable, which should serve as a backup, is faulty and remains out of service until repairs are completed.

As a temporary measure, the municipality will implement rotational power interruptions to prevent a total network collapse.

This means that roughly 30% of residents will be without electricity at any given time, as supply is switched between different areas.

“Let me be very clear, this situation is not acceptable. Residents should not have to suffer because of infrastructure failures and delays in repairs,” said Meyer.

He has called on the department to speed up repairs, provide clear timeframes, and urgently restore full power to all affected residents.

Meyer also urged residents to continue reporting outages and sharing reference numbers to strengthen escalation efforts.

Meanwhile, frustration on the ground continues to boil over as one resident, Kenneth Smith, questioned the persistent power outages in the area.

“We have been without power for more than a day. Food is going bad, and we have children and elderly people in the house. This is unbearable.

“I mean, how can we always not have power every week, especially on weekends?” said Smith.

Another resident, Veronica Louw said this consistent power outages are a thorn to the already disadvantaged households.

“Schools are closed now. We had to spend the entire weekend without electricity. You can imagine how frustrating that is. The municipality really needs to take us seriously.

“It’s always the same substation. What is really wrong with the Van Riebeeck substation?

“The metro must upgrade the substation to prevent these outages because the outages put a financial strain on us [residents] because our food goes bad and we have to rely on takeaways,” said Louw.

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