Fire at Pyramid substation in Tshwane prompts sabotage allegations
Oct 2024Published 30 Sept 2026
What happened
A fire broke out at the Pyramid substation in Tshwane in the early hours of a Wednesday, in a report published on 3 October 2024. The City said the incident tripped the 132 kV Line 1 Bellom-Parktown and caused outages affecting the Pretoria North, Wonderboom, Wolmer, Pyramid, Pumulani and Koedoespoort substations and parts of the Waltloo substation. Emergency services extinguished the blaze and technicians isolated the fault. The City said the other affected substations had been switched back, while Pyramid remained offline pending repairs.
At the time of that statement, the Rooiwal Sewerage Plant and households around the Pyramid substation were still without supply. The cause of the fire had not been determined.
Contributing factors
A former city official said locks had been forcibly cut, a door broken, control panel cables cut and the communication system vandalised, and alleged sabotage. The municipality said the cause of the fire had not been determined. This report does not establish a cause.
Lessons learned
- Reports of forced entry at substations should be investigated promptly and physical security reviewed.
- Rapid fault isolation and restoration planning can limit how long customers stay off supply.
- Public updates should say clearly what is known and when the cause is not yet established.
Source
Other entries that name Pyramid
Other entries that name Tshwane
Published 2026-09-30. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.