The Tshwane Metro Council on Tuesday cancelled all load shedding in the city after the Kwagga substation in the west of the city caught fire on Tuesday morning.
Eskom is currently implementing phase 4 load shedding in the rest of the country.
Large parts of the north and west of Pretoria’s power were cut off after the fire, presumably due to an oil spill, broke out. According to the Tshwane City Council’s Twitter entries, surrounding areas have been left without power as far as Soshanguve.
Frans Smith, a DA councilor in the Moot, says Rosslyn, Atteridgeville, Laudium, Sunnyside, Parktown, Mayville, Wonderboom, Sinoville, Bon Accord, Magalieskruin and Pretoria North are currently without power. “However, most of the Moot was not affected by the fire because its power comes from the Rooiwal substation.”
However, Smith says it can take as long as a week to get the substation back to work. In the meantime, the two other transformers will be used to provide power and a third transformer will be used for assistance.
“We ask residents to turn off appliances that pull a lot of power, such as refrigerators, hot water appliances and stoves, during load shedding. These devices usually overload the substations when the power is turned back on and it often takes longer to restore power to an area, ”he says.
More parts without power
Meanwhile, several other parts of Pretoria were also left without power due to technical problems at other substations in the city.
Nellmapius-ext. 2, in the east of the city, the power goes off after a switch that powers the Waltloo substation went off. The city council says it is unable to check the lines to detect the fault due to the rain.
Parts of Mamelodi are also currently without power due to a cable fault between the Letoaba and Morwa mini substations. The cable fault lies in areas that have been washed away and will be repaired when the water has subsided.
In Moreleta Park, a 315 kVA mini substation in Sean Street also caught fire. The fire is currently being investigated by the subway.
Copper conductors in the Lynwood Ridge area were also stolen. The subway was in the process of replacing the conductors.
