City Power Warns of Imminent Infrastructure Collapse as Illegal Mining Destabilizes Joburg Substations

Crisis at the Core of Johannesburg’s Power Grid

Johannesburg’s electricity utility, City Power, has issued a dire warning regarding the safety and operational stability of its infrastructure. According to the entity’s latest quarterly report, widespread illegal mining operations are causing significant ground instability, putting critical substations at risk of total collapse. The destructive activity is not only disrupting power supply but also creating a hazardous environment for residents and utility workers alike.

The Growing Threat to Electrical Infrastructure

City Power officials highlighted that their operational efficiency is under constant siege. Beyond the persistent threat of copper cable theft, which often involves stripping live wires, illegal mining has introduced a new, geological dimension to the crisis. Underground excavations near active and disused mining belts are undermining the structural integrity of the soil, leading to land subsidence around high-voltage equipment.

The consequences of this activity are severe and multifaceted:

• Infrastructure Destabilization: Ground shifting is causing substations, pylons, and transformers to tilt or cave in, forcing emergency shutdowns.
• Safety Hazards: Workers report being threatened and shot at by illegal miners, while communities face the risk of electrical accidents.
• Resource Diversion: Millions in funding intended for routine maintenance and grid modernization are being redirected toward emergency structural repairs and geological assessments.

Robertville and Roodepoort Under Siege

City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena identified the Robertville and Roodepoort substations as the most critical points of concern. Detailed geotechnical investigations conducted in June 2024 revealed that while these sites already sat on historically unstable mining land, modern illegal excavations have significantly worsened the deterioration.

At the Robertville site, recent assessments confirmed that ongoing mining beneath the facility has led to rapid ground movement. Similarly, near the Roodepoort substation, engineers have documented tilting support poles and caving inverter plinths caused by illegal tunnels dug in the immediate vicinity. The instability has reached such a critical level that City Power is now forced to consider the incredibly costly option of relocating entire substations.

Contingency Planning and Network Resilience

In response to the deteriorating situation along the Main Reef corridor—a stretch of land running from Industria through Roodepoort—City Power is scrambling to secure the grid. The utility is currently working to stabilize the network by extending the Fleurhof substation’s capacity to act as a backup should the Robertville facility fail.

However, the utility warns that these measures are stop-gap solutions. As long as illegal mining activities continue to hollow out the earth beneath critical infrastructure, the risk of a catastrophic power failure in these regions remains high. City Power continues to collaborate with law enforcement agencies, including the SAPS and JMPD, to dismantle illegal operations, but the scale of the destruction continues to outpace current containment efforts.