Johannesburger warned to prepare as City Power schedules rolling substation maintenance
City Power has announced a wide programme of planned power interruptions across February and March, and johannesburger households are being urged to prepare for a series of outages and possible delays to restoration. The utility says the work is routine maintenance aimed at stabilising a system described as constrained, but the schedule comes amid a multibillion-rand renewal backlog and ageing equipment that officials say is driving repeat faults.
Alexandra: outage on 25 February for West Bank and Far East Bank areas
On Wednesday, 25 February, an interruption ran from 09: 00 to 17: 00 in Alexandra that affected West Bank, Far East Bank extensions 9 and 10, and parts of Lombardy East. City Power positioned the work as routine repairs and warned that restoration could be delayed if weather conditions interfere with crews carrying out maintenance.
Lunar Substation maintenance hits Univille and Lenasia South on 26 February
On Thursday, 26 February, the Lunar Substation was taken offline from 09: 00 to 17: 00. Areas listed for that window included Univille, Lawley, Finetown, Mountain View, Ennerdale Extension 8 and Lenasia South as the utility performed scheduled maintenance.
Siermert Substation work affects Johannesburg CBD and surrounding inner-city suburbs on 1 March
Maintenance at the Siermert Substation on Sunday, 1 March affected Berea, Troyeville, Jeppestown, Fairview, Highlands, Doornfontein, New Doornfontein and the Johannesburg CBD. Additional, separate outages are scheduled at the Commercial Switching Station and the Star Point Switching Station in early March, with Riviera, Mondeor, Meredale, Naturena, Kibler Park and Alan Manor earmarked for interruptions later in the month.
Johannesburger: Mondeor Substation outage set for 8 March
If you are supplied by Mondeor Substation, brace for a planned interruption on 8 March from 08: 00 to 16: 00. The interruption will affect Alan Manor, Kibler Park, Naturena, Meredale, Meredale Extensions 2, 4, 9 and 26, Mondeor and Mondeor Extensions 3, 4 and 5, Ridgeway Extensions 3, 4, 5 and 8, and Winchester Hills Extensions 1, 2 and 3. City Power has warned that supply may be restored at any time and has urged customers to treat electricity supply points as live at all times. For clarity or updates, the utility’s call centre numbers are 011 490 7484 and toll-free 0800 202 925.
Mid-March switching and Roodepoort North stations slated for maintenance
Mid-March work will affect areas served by the Hursthill Substation, Noordwyk Switching Station, Unisa Switching Station and First Avenue Switching Station in Roodepoort North. City Power framed these interventions as part of an ongoing programme to carry out essential maintenance on the network to provide better services.
City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena outlines causes and response
City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said technical teams are responding continuously to faults logged by residents and emphasised that outages stem from a combination of ageing infrastructure, network overloading, vandalism, cable theft and illegal electricity connections. “It is worth noting that there are currently no widespread outages on a daily basis, but our technical teams respond to outages as and when they are logged by customers, ” Mangena said.
He warned that repeated interruptions in the same areas are often linked to sustained pressure on infrastructure caused by high demand and dense illegal connections. The utility described the electricity system as constrained and urged residents to reduce consumption where possible to prevent further strain and unplanned blackouts.
Infrastructure Plan 1. 0 and the scale of equipment risk
City of Johannesburg’s Infrastructure Plan 1. 0 (2024/25) places the technical backdrop in stark terms: City Power faces a R44. 25-billion asset renewal backlog. The plan notes that ageing and deteriorating assets contribute to frequent and worsening outages and flag serious public health and safety risks linked to failing equipment.
Across 269 substations much equipment has exceeded its intended lifespan. Of 216 power transformers, roughly 20% are classified as high risk due to age and insulation deterioration, and about 10% of 717 feeder boards require replacement. Large portions of the core network — underground cables, substations and transformers — were described as between 60 and nearly 100 years old.
What makes this notable is the combination of scheduled maintenance and entrenched infrastructure deficits: the planned outages are intended to avert larger failures, but the R44. 25-billion backlog and the high proportion of ageing, high-risk equipment mean interventions must be frequent and extensive to stabilise service.
Related regional headlines and broader context
Other items in the regional news cycle flagged pressures beyond the electricity network: an annual influx of 230, 000 people was said to put pressure on the Provincial budget, a coach urged South Africa to embrace pressure and the favourites tag, and a separate report noted three killed and dozens hurt in the UAE since the start of Iran’s campaign. Readers are invited to take a look at the topic timeline for all related articles for additional context.
Residents affected by the planned maintenance are advised to follow City Power notices closely, treat supply points as live, and expect restoration times to be influenced by weather and the condition of the equipment being serviced.
