CCTV footage captured individuals attempting to steal infrastructure in the inner City, on Saturday evening.
As a result, they damaged manholes and part of the roadway.
The video shows a bridge of underground tunnels with two suspects attempting to pull a cable through an open manhole, tied behind a minibus taxi. This happens while parts of the network were off due to the fire at Central Substation.
Dada Morero, Mayor of Johannesburg, said about the incident “we urge residents and business owners to work with law enforcement by sharing any information that could help identify those involved. Your tip-off could help bring those responsible to justice and protect our communities from infrastructure-related crime.”
City Power called for increased police patrols and security visibility across the Johannesburg Central Business District following this latest incident and last week’s fire at Central Substation.
Last week’s fire was the second one, affecting electricity supply to parts of Marshalltown, City and Suburban, Johannesburg Central and Selby.
City Power suspects illegal activity in the underground cable tunnels, including possible theft and vandalism, may have sparked the fire.
Charles Tlouane, City Power’s Acting Chief Executive Officer, said the Inner-City electricity network, targeted by criminals, is made up of 14 kilometres of underground tunnels, 81 manholes and several substations that are physically connected to the tunnel system. These include Fordsburg, Central, City Gen, Durban Street, Bree, Kazerne, Pritchard and Braamfontein substations.
He said criminals appear to be watching for outages, often trigger them, and use these periods to enter the tunnels and target cables.
There were at least 156 incidents of cable theft and vandalism during the 2025/26 financial year, asking for R260 million in repairs.
Picture: Supplied