Explosion at Watloo Substation disrupts power in Tshwane

Sept 2026Published 29 Sept 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor

SignificantElectrical

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

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What happened

An explosion occurred at the Watloo Substation, causing the 132kV Njala Infeed Substation to trip and leading to a major power supply interruption across several parts of Tshwane. Multiple primary substations were affected, including Watloo, Wingate, Heatherley, Mooikloof, Wapadrand, Scientia, Highlands, Willows, Lynnwood, Villieria, Koedoespoort, Pumulani, Pyramid and Mamelodi One, Two and Three. Other customers including the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research were also impacted. A technical team was sent to assess the damage and plan repairs.

The operator advised residents to treat all electricity network points as live and to keep appliances unplugged until supply was restored. Updates on restoration times and exact affected areas were to be provided once assessment was complete.

Lessons learned

Ensure rapid dispatch of technical teams to assess substation damage after any explosion or trip event.
Provide timely public updates on restoration timelines and affected areas.
Remind customers to treat all network points as live during outages.

More lessons on emergency response and public communication, outages, backup supply and restoration, from every incident on the register.

Source

jacarandafm.com

Published 2026-09-29. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.

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