Fire at Johannesburg central substation linked to suspected cable theft
EIR-0778A 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.
Suspected illegal activity in underground cable tunnels, including possible cable theft and vandalism, in an area with ongoing concerns about infrastructure theft.
- Underground cable tunnels and substations in urban areas are vulnerable to theft and vandalism, which can trigger fires and cascading outages.
- Utilities should coordinate closely with law enforcement to increase patrols and surveillance around known high-risk infrastructure corridors.
- Repeated incidents at the same site within a short period should trigger a rapid root-cause review and enhanced physical security measures, not just repair of the immediate damage.
Published 2026-09-15. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.