Residents in Olievenhoutbosch and nearby Pretoria areas spent Christmas without electricity due to a fire at a local substation caused by cable theft and vandalism. The outage has lasted three days, affecting daily life and businesses. Repair work is underway by City of Tshwane technicians.
The power failure began on Wednesday with a fire at the Olievenhoutbosch substation, triggered by theft and vandalism of cables. Areas such as Zwartkop, Highveld, and Eco Park have also been left in the dark. City of Tshwane officials report progress in restoring services at the substation.
Local residents expressed frustration over the timing during the holiday season. One said, “We all expecting to enjoy Christmas with the lights on, but unfortunately it became something which is totally different from what we were expecting. The fridges are de-freezing and the meat is getting rotten.” Another, a graphic designer working from home, noted, “My business was really affected, because we work from home. I am a graphic designer, I work with my laptop so for now my computers are off and I don’t have a backup for this electricity. From the date up until today, I lost about eight clients.”
Ward councillor Kenneth Masha highlighted the need for more security patrols to combat ongoing cable theft. He stated, “In 2023 due to the work that was done by the patrollers we had zero incidents of cable theft. However, with lack of support from the city, the number of patrollers started dwindling down, to an extent that now we don’t have enough patrollers. That is why the opportunistic criminals have identified.”
Technicians from the City of Tshwane are actively working on repairs, with updates shared via social media showing teams on site.