Power outages plague east Joburg residents every two days as infrastructure crumbles

Residents in east Johannesburg suburbs have suffered a staggering 225 power outages since January last year due to failures at the Observatory and Bellevue substations.

This means a power failure every two days for the 100 000 residents who live in Observatory, Yeoville, Bellevue, Cyrildene, Bruma, Dewetshof, Bez Valley, Kensington, Malvern, and surrounding suburbs.

In a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Jacob Mamabolo revealed that the Observatory Substation recorded 158 outages, while Bellevue Substation had 67 outages.

Despite repairs following the December 2023 fire at Observatory substation, City Power says the electricity supply remains unreliable due to:

• Aging and overloaded infrastructure beyond the substations
• Illegal connections that overload the system
• Ongoing cable theft and vandalism
• Load shedding impacts causing cascading faults
• Staff shortages, equipment constraints, and maintenance backlogs
• Parts of the network still operating on temporary post-fire configurations

While some projects have been completed, including the replacement of high-voltage cables between Observatory and Bellevue and the reinstatement of a second transformer at Bellevue, these have not solved the crisis. Further improvements, such as a fully restored control room at Observatory and a standby board at Bellevue, are stuck in procurement processes.

Most alarming is City Power’s admission that major upgrades and cable replacements will only be completed years from now, with some critical work scheduled as late as 2030. A full upgrade of the Bellevue Substation cannot proceed due to budget constraints, meaning only piecemeal interventions are being implemented.

This is unacceptable as residents and businesses are suffering extreme inconvenience, economic losses, damage to appliances, and water outages linked to power failures.

The provincial government says it is urging the city to improve maintenance, secure infrastructure, reduce illegal connections, and communicate better with residents.

I will continue to work with DA Ward Councillors Carlos da Rocha and Neuren Pietersen to push for urgent measures to ensure reliable electricity.

Dr Jack Bloom MPL, DA Johannesburg East Constituency Head