Power in Johannesburg’s city centre has been partially restored following an underground fire in a cable tunnel, an official said on Tuesday.
City power spokesperson Louis Pieterse said about 25% of power had been restored by Monday evening.
”We are hoping to have power restored by about 60% or 70% at about 10am this morning [Tuesday],” he added.
The fire, which started in the early hours of Monday morning, left areas south of President and Market streets without power.
Pieterse said although the cause of the fire was not yet known, ”we cannot ignore the possibility of attempted cable theft”.
He said City Power would try to have power fully restored ”as soon as possible” by redistributing power from other substations.
However, it would take a few days to replace the damaged cables. — Sapa