Major South African metro hit with widespread power outage

The City of Tshwane in Gauteng is currently experiencing a widespread electricity outage, reportedly triggered by tripped transformers at the Njala (also referred to as Nyala) Infeed Substation.

This has affected a significant portion of the metro, including suburbs such as Highlands, CSIR, Willows, Lynnwood, Villieria, Koedoespoort, Waltloo, and Pyramid.

Executive Mayor, Dr Nasiphi Moya, issued a power alert on X (formerly Twitter) mid-afternoon on January 31, 2026, confirming a trip on the 132 kV line 1 at the Njala Substation and that a team is attending.

In follow-up updates, Moya said that “the team identified that Transformers 1A and 1B at the NJALA Infeed Substation have tripped.”

“The team is currently on site attending to the fault. Estimated Time of Restoration (ETR) is not available at this time. We apologise for the inconvenience caused to residents.”

She added that the outage “affects a huge chunk of the city” and that “our teams are working to restore power as quickly as possible.”

The City of Tshwane’s official account confirmed that technical teams had been dispatched and were attending to the outage.

Eskom said that the fault originated within City of Tshwane infrastructure rather than its own transmission network.

In a statement on X, Eskom noted “the interruption of power supply was triggered by tripped transformers at the Nyala substation.”

“While Eskom’s own system remains fully operational and stable, we remain on standby to assist City officials with repairs if requested.”

This incident fits into a broader pattern of electricity challenges in Tshwane this month.

This includes prolonged unplanned outages earlier in January, multiple planned maintenance interruptions, and reports of medium-voltage faults from local depots.

Moya has publicly addressed the systemic issues in an opinion piece published on News24 on January 26, 2026, attributing the “power outage storm” to aging infrastructure, crime (including theft and vandalism), and a R3.5 billion funding gap.

She said that there is a need to stabilise the network, move beyond patchwork fixes, and increase investment in infrastructure through the city’s adjustment budget.

This week, she said she “will present our short and long term plans to stabilise the electricity network across the city.

On 29 January, Democratic Alliance cauces leader Cilliers Brink said that the party is preparing a formal complaint to NERSA in terms of Section 32 of the Energy Regulation Act.

“We believe that Tshwane is in breach of its NERSA licence conditions to provide a reliable supply of electricity,” with “recurring power outages… the longest in recent memory.

In East Lynne, Brink said that “power has been off and on, but mostly off since 26 December. But East Lynne is by no means the only community suffering these outages.”