JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — 14 October 2026. A fourth fire at City Power's Central Substation in Marshalltown on Tuesday, 13 October, has caused another power outage affecting parts of Johannesburg's inner city. The blaze damaged a feeder board while teams were still dealing with earlier incidents at the facility. By Wednesday morning, officials said safety checks had allowed technicians to enter the site, but no reliable restoration time had been confirmed.
The latest disruption adds to weeks of unstable supply for residents, shop owners and offices dependent on the city's underground electricity network. It is a localised infrastructure outage, not evidence of a citywide blackout.
What caused the Johannesburg CBD power outage? City Power says a fourth fire damaged equipment at its Central Substation on 13 October 2026, interrupting electricity in parts of the inner city. Technicians were cleared to enter after a safety inspection on 14 October. The cause of this particular fire and the time of full restoration remain unconfirmed.
A new fire hits equipment already under repair
According to TimesLIVE's account of City Power's statement, the latest incident damaged feeder board 4 at the Central Substation. The fire occurred during ongoing repair work after three earlier fires at the same critical site.
City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena identified Marshalltown, Wemmer, Selby and parts of the inner city among the affected areas. The utility also named sections of Albert, Eloff, Commissioner and Anderson streets. The early report from Eyewitness News gave the same affected locations and said emergency teams had responded to the scene.
On Tuesday evening, smoke and flames prevented staff from entering an underground cable tunnel to inspect the damage safely. City Power said its technicians would need emergency-service clearance before they could assess and repair the affected equipment. The immediate priority was therefore securing the site, not switching electricity back on before the condition of the network was known.
What changed on Wednesday, 14 October?
The utility's next significant update concerned access. A live tracker reproducing City Power outage notices recorded an assessment under way at approximately 10:20 South African Standard Time on Wednesday and a subsequent notice at 10:38 confirming that the site was safe for technical teams to enter.
That clearance is an important step toward repairs, but permission to enter is not the same as restoration of electricity. Engineers still need to establish what equipment can be repaired, which cables and feeders are safe to energise, and whether the outage has affected linked parts of the system.
POWER OUTAGES
Johannesburg Power Outage: Fourth Substation Fire Disrupts Inner City
Oct 14, 2026
Oct 14, 2026
6 min read
Published
Updated:
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — 14 October 2026. A fourth fire at City Power's Central Substation in Marshalltown on Tuesday, 13 October, has caused another power outage affecting parts of Johannesburg's inner city. The blaze damaged a feeder board while teams were still dealing with earlier incidents at the facility. By Wednesday morning, officials said safety checks had allowed technicians to enter the site, but no reliable restoration time had been confirmed.
The latest disruption adds to weeks of unstable supply for residents, shop owners and offices dependent on the city's underground electricity network. It is a localised infrastructure outage, not evidence of a citywide blackout.
What caused the Johannesburg CBD power outage? City Power says a fourth fire damaged equipment at its Central Substation on 13 October 2026, interrupting electricity in parts of the inner city. Technicians were cleared to enter after a safety inspection on 14 October. The cause of this particular fire and the time of full restoration remain unconfirmed.
A new fire hits equipment already under repair
According to TimesLIVE's account of City Power's statement, the latest incident damaged feeder board 4 at the Central Substation. The fire occurred during ongoing repair work after three earlier fires at the same critical site.
City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena identified Marshalltown, Wemmer, Selby and parts of the inner city among the affected areas. The utility also named sections of Albert, Eloff, Commissioner and Anderson streets. The early report from Eyewitness News gave the same affected locations and said emergency teams had responded to the scene.
On Tuesday evening, smoke and flames prevented staff from entering an underground cable tunnel to inspect the damage safely. City Power said its technicians would need emergency-service clearance before they could assess and repair the affected equipment. The immediate priority was therefore securing the site, not switching electricity back on before the condition of the network was known.
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What changed on Wednesday, 14 October?
The utility's next significant update concerned access. A live tracker reproducing City Power outage notices recorded an assessment under way at approximately 10:20 South African Standard Time on Wednesday and a subsequent notice at 10:38 confirming that the site was safe for technical teams to enter.
That clearance is an important step toward repairs, but permission to enter is not the same as restoration of electricity. Engineers still need to establish what equipment can be repaired, which cables and feeders are safe to energise, and whether the outage has affected linked parts of the system.
As of the 14 October Eyewitness News update, City Power had not given a confirmed time for restoring supply. Residents should not interpret a projected completion date for a different nearby fault, or a previous restoration notice, as an assurance for the new Central Substation incident.
The outage is not necessarily uniform across every block. A feeder may return to service while another remains isolated. A separate Johannesburg CBD–Newtown fault was reported restored at 11:17 SAST on Wednesday; that notice does not establish that repairs to the fire-damaged Central Substation were finished. Customers should follow updates for their specific street.
Why the Central Substation keeps making headlines
This is not the first time damage at the Marshalltown installation has interrupted electricity. In a 7 October investigation published by The Citizen, City Power described repeated incidents affecting the inner-city tunnel and substation network, including previous fires linked to criminal interference with infrastructure.
The utility said unauthorised access, theft and vandalism had complicated repair operations and increased the cost of protecting and maintaining electricity assets. Those earlier findings are relevant background; they are not proof that the 13 October fire was deliberately started.
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Mangena told Eyewitness News in its latest fire report that the cause of Tuesday's incident had not been established. Investigators must still determine whether it resulted from equipment failure, criminal activity or another cause. Claims of sabotage circulating among frustrated residents remain suspicions, not an official finding.
The new incident also followed technical problems reported on 4 October, when a problem at Karzene Substation disrupted incoming supply to the central facility. That history shows why one repaired component does not automatically end every outage affecting central Johannesburg.
Residents and small traders face mounting costs
For people living in the CBD, repeated outages are more than an inconvenience. Households without dependable cooking facilities face higher food costs, while residents in apartment buildings may need alternative laundry and internet arrangements. These are immediate expenses, not just abstract concerns about grid reliability.
Eyewitness News interviewed residents and traders on 14 October who described paying for ready-made meals, mobile data and outside laundry services. A shoe repair business at Carlton Centre reported that power-dependent machinery could not be used even as rent and other business expenses continued.
The financial pressure is especially severe for traders who earn money day by day. If machines cannot run or customers cannot obtain normal services, missing even part of a working day can affect income. Prolonged disruption also makes it harder to plan stock, staff shifts and opening hours.
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The issue sits within a wider debate over Johannesburg's service delivery. XTRAfrica has previously reported on Mayor Dada Morero and public anger about electricity supply, as well as calls for municipal innovation across South Africa. Those reports concern broader governance questions; they do not establish responsibility for this specific fire. The national debate over reliable urban services and organised infrastructure crime supplies further context.
How affected customers can follow repairs
Residents and businesses should check City Power notices reproduced in the Johannesburg outage tracker for their particular supply area, rather than relying on broad claims that the entire city has power or has none. The tracker may help identify incidents, but it is independent of the municipality and cannot guarantee every local fault has been recorded.
Customers can report ongoing outages through City Power's advertised call centre at 011 490 7484. In homes and businesses where electricity is unstable, switching off sensitive appliances until supply stabilises can help reduce exposure to voltage surges. Essential medical or safety equipment needs appropriate backup arrangements.
The next useful official notice will say what technicians found after entering Central Substation, what repairs remain, which feeders are being restored, and whether a defensible restoration estimate can be issued. Until then, a cleared worksite should not be mistaken for the end of the outage.
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