06.02.2026
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Joburg CBD without power after Bree Street substation fire

4 mins



  • Transformer Failure Sparks Building Fire, Causes Power Outage Near Bree Taxi Rank

City Power has announced that large parts of Johannesburg’s CBD and surrounding areas are without electricity following a fire at its Bree Street substation in the early hours of Friday morning.

This caused a power failure, and shortly thereafter, another power line for the Bree Fordsburg Feeder also tripped.

City Power says that emergency services are on site and busy damping down. According to City Power, it seems that only one transformer was damaged.

However, a full inspection will only be carried out once EMS has declared it safe to do so, in order to determine the exact cause and extent of the fire damage.

City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena says this outage affect customers in several areas around the city. 

“This outage affects customers in several areas especially from the from the Joburg CBD to Newtown, Braamfontein, parts of Parktown, Hillbrow, Berea, and the surrounding areas. We will continue to update the customers on the progress of the investigation, but also other efforts that we may have to back feed so that customers are not left in the dark into the weekend.” 

Meanwhile, Johannesburg Emergency Services Spokesperson Xolile Khumalo says a fire at a building on the corner of Bree and Harrison Streets could be linked to the fire at the mini-substation as the building is used for both residential and commercial purposes.

“The fire did not spread to other floors. Firefighters successfully extinguished the blaze and crew remains on scene conducting damping down operations. A large tranformer on the ground floor is suspected of causing the fire. No injuries have been reported at this moment.” 

 

  

 

      

 

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