Power restored to major South African metro

Power has returned to multiple areas of the City of Tshwane, following widespread electricity outages on January 31. 

The blackout affected a significant portion of the metro, including suburbs such as Highlands, Hillcrest, CSIR, Willows, Lynnwood, Villieria, Koedoespoort, Mooikloof, Wapadrand, Mamelodi, Heatherly, Wingate, Arries, Waltloo, Pyramid and surrounding areas.

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, causing the outage.

The source of the initial trip was confirmed to be a fault in transformer 1A at the substation. During efforts to restore power through the substation’s 1B transformer, another fault was found on the associated breaker.

The repairs undertaken by the city were, therefore, extensive, causing many to go without power while the system was tested, repaired, and cleared by specialised maintenance and testing teams. 

This process was completed, and power was restored in the late hours of 31 January. Power was restored to some areas by 9 pm, while all affected areas were re-energised by 10:40 pm.

Eskom emphasised that while a large portion of the city was left without power, this was caused by the City of Tshwane’s infrastructure, and not Eskom’s system.

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 ageing 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 caucus 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.”