The Tshwane metro has announced plans to upgrade the Van Riebeeck Substation following recurring power failures.

The power supply challenges had recently left residents in parts of Pretoria North frustrated and without electricity for extended periods.

While technicians managed to restore power in segments to various areas, a second fault on the ring cable network triggered further interruptions, prolonging the disruption for many households.

According to Tshwane spokesperson Lindela Mashigo, technical teams have been working around the clock to identify faults, isolate damaged sections of the network, and restore supply safely.

“The current challenges are linked to the condition of the Van Riebeeck Substation, which is operating without a functional protection system after the existing protection equipment and associated switchgear infrastructure were damaged through vandalism,” he said.

“This has reduced the network’s ability to isolate faults effectively and minimise the impact of supply disruptions. As a result, when faults occur on the ring network, they were unable to be isolated at the local level.

“Instead, the fault caused the main Pretoria North 132/11kV Substation to trip, leading to widespread power interruptions affecting large parts of the Pretoria North supply area.”

The metro said this situation has increased the complexity of restoration efforts and resulted in longer outages affecting a greater number of customers whenever faults occur.

To address the problem, the metro has included the Van Riebeeck Substation in its Primary and Secondary Projects Programme.

The planned upgrade, scheduled for implementation during the next financial year, will include the installation of modern protection systems and associated infrastructure aimed at improving network reliability and resilience.

“The upgrade is scheduled for implementation during the next financial year and will include the installation of modern protection systems and associated infrastructure aimed at strengthening network resilience and reducing the impact of future faults,” said Mashigo.

Meanwhile, municipal teams continue to respond to faults across the affected network.

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