Energy and Electricity Business Unit Update on Power Outage Affecting Savannah Country Estate, Greencreek and the Blyde
By Cllr Frans Boshielo
MMC for Utility Services
The City can confirm that the source of the power outage affecting Savannah Country Estate, Greencreek and The Blyde has been identified and repair work is currently underway.
On Wednesday morning, System Operators resumed fault-finding operations and
successfully identified the source of the outage as damaged tailings on a high-
tension overhead line located adjacent to the affordable housing development near
Heatherley Substation.
City operational teams were immediately dispatched to the site and repairs are
currently in progress.
Every effort is being made to restore electricity supply safely and as quickly as possible.
“Our technical teams have worked tirelessly to identify the source of this complex
fault and are now focused on completing repairs and restoring supply.
We thank affected residents for their patience and understanding during this prolonged outage,” said the MMC for Utilities, Cllr Frans Boshielo.
The outage commenced on Monday following a planned maintenance shutdown at Heatherley Substation on the 132kV electricity network.
Upon completion of the maintenance work at approximately 18:30, System Operators began restoring supply to all areas fed from the substation.
During the restoration process, the network repeatedly tripped whenever supply was
restored to Savannah Country Estate, preventing the full energisation of the affected areas.
At approximately 21:00, preliminary investigations indicated that the fault was
located on the section of the network supplying Savannah Country Estate.
Further investigations were hampered when the Ring Main Unit (RMU) supplying the estate was found to be welded shut, preventing access to the equipment and limiting fault-finding efforts during the evening.
To minimise the impact on residents, System Operators restored supply to Greencreek and The Blyde after confirming that those sections of the network were fault-free, while further investigations were scheduled for the following day.
On Tuesday morning, System Operators returned to site with a specialised welding
team to gain access to the RMU and continue fault-finding operations.
Despite several attempts to restore supply to all three estates, the network continued to trip whenever Savannah Country Estate was reconnected.
At approximately 13:00, supply was successfully restored to Greencreek and
The Blyde.
However, parts of Savannah Country Estate remained without electricity due to what was initially believed to be an internal fault within the estate’s network.
Later that evening, at approximately 19:30, the City was informed that the network
had tripped again.
Due to operational constraints and staff fatigue following emergency work undertaken at Wapadrand Substation late into the night, further investigations could not be conducted immediately.
The City apologises for the inconvenience caused and thanks affected residents for
their patience and understanding while technical teams work to restore supply.
Further updates will be communicated as repair work progresses.