Fire at Johannesburg central substation linked to suspected cable theft
Sept 2026Published 15 Sept 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor
- Where
- Central Substation in Johannesburg's CBD
- Operator
- City Power
- What
- Fire broke out on 8 September 2026 disrupting supply
- Cause
- Suspected cable theft and vandalism in tunnels
- Outcome
- Second fire at site within two weeks
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Companies named in the reporting of this entry (being named is not a finding of fault): City Power
What happened
A fire broke out on 8 September 2026 at the Central Substation in Johannesburg's CBD, operated by City Power, disrupting electricity supply to parts of Marshalltown, City and Suburban, Johannesburg Central and Selby. It was the second fire at the same substation within two weeks. City Power said investigations into the cause were ongoing but suspected illegal activity in underground cable tunnels, including possible cable theft and vandalism, may have contributed.
Separately, video footage was released showing two people allegedly attempting to pull a cable through an open manhole while tied to a minibus taxi, during a period when part of the network was offline due to the fire. City Power's acting chief executive called for increased police patrols and security visibility in the CBD to help protect critical electricity infrastructure.
Contributing factors
Suspected illegal activity in underground cable tunnels, including possible cable theft and vandalism, in an area with ongoing concerns about infrastructure theft.
Lessons learned
- Underground cable tunnels at urban substations need stronger access controls because suspected theft and vandalism can start fires.
- A second fire at the same substation within two weeks requires immediate root-cause review and extra security, not only repairs.
More lessons on theft, arson and site security, from every incident on the register.
Not yet known
- Confirmed cause of the fire
- Duration and cost of the outage
- Equipment damaged in the fire
This entry is updated when these are reported. Get an alert for the next one like it.
Source
Published 2026-09-15. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.
