Technical teams are making progress on electricity faults affecting several Pretoria suburbs, with councillor Malcolm de Klerk hopeful that all or most areas covered in his latest update could have power restored by tonight, October 7.

The update comes as residents report having to throw away meat and other food from their fridges and freezers following days without electricity.

Rekord has received messages from affected households saying their food spoiled during the prolonged interruptions, adding a financial burden to the ongoing disruption.

According to De Klerk, technicians have identified a problem with the incoming main feeder at Murrayfield Substation, which supplies Meyerspark, Murrayfield and Val de Grace.

He said teams were working on the fault, with considerable activity on site, and that he was pleased with the progress.

At Koedoespoort Substation, which supplies Jan Niemandpark and East Lynne, teams were working through a lengthy list of faults affecting individual houses and streets.

De Klerk said cable theft, vandalism and incidents of people switching off substations had complicated restoration efforts.

Despite describing a chaotic situation, he said sufficient resources and technical teams were working on the ground.

N4 Gateway had also suffered its fifth cable fault. De Klerk said he had spoken to the manager there to keep track of developments.

“We are positive that by tonight either all or most affected areas will be restored,” he said.

His comments reflect optimism about the areas covered in his update. A confirmed restoration deadline has not been provided.

Reports over the past two weeks show how an initial major network disruption developed into prolonged outages, emergency load rotation and repeated local cable faults.

A severe storm on September 28 caused electricity network disruptions. The following morning, a fire broke out at Watloo Substation, triggering widespread outages and leaving a transformer at the Njala Infeed Substation faulty. Affected areas included parts of Pretoria East, the Moot and Mamelodi.

On September 29, the municipality reported interruptions affecting supply points including Watloo, Wingate, Highlands, Heatherly, Mooikloof, Wapadrand and the CSIR. Separate faults were also reported in areas including Erasmuskloof, Willow Acres and parts of Constantia Park. No confirmed restoration times were available in that update.

By October 1, technicians were establishing alternative electricity supply routes while testing and repairs continued.

Transformer 1A at Njala remained out of service after attempts to re-energise it were unsuccessful. Its manufacturer was assisting with diagnostic testing.

Teams worked on connections to draw electricity through the Kwagga and Rietvlei networks, although rain and switching difficulties delayed progress. Three-hour load rotation was introduced in several areas to manage the constrained supply.

On October 3, electricity had returned to parts of Watloo after some load was moved to the Rietvlei network. Repairs and equipment installations continued at the fire-damaged substation, while theft and vandalism on the downstream network caused further setbacks.

By October 5, parts of Silverton, Meyerspark, Willow Park Manor, La Montagne and Murrayfield remained without electricity.

Ward 41 councillor Ben Chapman said technicians were finding underground cable faults, individual outages and other network problems as work progressed.

A community care campaign was launched to assist affected households with non-perishable food, generator fuel, charging facilities and access to warm showers.

An October 6 report, citing municipal spokesperson Lindela Mashigo, said five of 30 affected medium-voltage units in the Murrayfield supply area had been restored over the preceding weekend. Repairs to a main feeder were expected to reconnect another 13 units, subject to successful testing and no further faults.

In the Koedoespoort supply area, 47 medium-voltage units were affected. An attempt to reconnect part of the network had briefly restored supply to 20 units before another trip, requiring further fault tracing. These figures reflected the situation reported at that stage.

Residents protested in East Lynne on October 4 and 5, blocking roads and burning tyres as they demanded electricity restoration.

The Tshwane Metro Police Department said four people were arrested for public violence. Ward 87 councillor Freddie Pienaar intervened to help clear roads so repair teams could gain access and urged residents to support patrols against cable theft.

At the time, municipal teams were addressing two newly identified cable faults, with further network testing required before supply could safely return.

Are you still without electricity? Tell us your area, how long your power has been off and whether you have lost food because of the outage.

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