Cable theft fire damages Olivenhoutbosch substation, South Africa

Dec 2025Published 7 Sept 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor

SignificantElectricalProvisional

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supply cut for about •• daysShown in the record →Full estimate

From the recordRoot cause Failed part

Where: Olivenhoutbosch substation
Operator: City of Tshwane
What: Fire damaged cabling and switchgear
Injuries: None reported
Cause: Cable theft

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Companies named in the reporting of this entry (being named is not a finding of fault): City of Tshwane

What happened

In the early hours of Thursday, 25 December 2025, a fire broke out at the Olivenhoutbosch substation operated by the City of Tshwane. The blaze was attributed to cable theft, which damaged critical electrical equipment including cabling and switchgear. One transformer was later confirmed serviceable, while testing and repairs continued on the remaining equipment. The fire caused extensive infrastructure damage and resulted in power outages across several areas, including Zwartkop, Highveld, Eco Park, Kosmosdal, Blue Valley, Louwlardia, Rua Vista, Thatchfield, parts of Olievenhoutbosch, and ABSA Ext 36.

City officials said restoration work would take several days to complete safely due to the extent of the damage. No injuries or fatalities were reported in connection with the incident.

Contributing factors

Cable theft damaged critical electrical equipment at the substation, which led to the fire and subsequent extensive damage to cabling and switchgear.

Lessons learned

Cable theft at a substation can damage cabling and switchgear and start a fire, so operators should add physical barriers and monitoring around exposed cables.
Damage to transformers and switchgear from theft can leave parts of the site out of service for days, so plans must cover staged testing and safe restoration.

More lessons on theft, arson and site security, from every incident on the register.

Not yet known

Model and age of damaged switchgear
Cost of repairs and lost supply
Exact duration of each area outage

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Source

sabcnews.com

Published 2026-09-07. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.

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The record behind this entry

The record behind EIR-0395 holds the site, the operator, the owner, the root cause and what failed as fields you can filter, count and export, with its source and their verification status. The cause is not hidden: the contributing factors above give it as the sources report it. The record adds it as a field. Companies are named in the roles the sources give them. Being named is not a finding of fault.

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Grid infrastructure incidents in South Africa: 148 entries, with a free alert for the next one.

Substation and transformer fires: the counts, the latest entries and a free alert for the next one. Also: switchgear and breaker fires and power line and cable failures.

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