Tshwane's Wapadrand Substation rebuild completed: A new era for power supply

The multimillion rand project to rebuild Pretoria East’s Wapadrand Substation, which was burnt to ashes by a disastrous fire in July 2021, has finally been completed.

Tshwane mayor Nasiphi Moya, who unveiled the newly-refurbished substation on Wednesday, expressed confidence that the upgrade will address long-standing power issues in the area.

She revealed that the rebuilding of the substation started in January 2022 with R97 million spent of the initial R117m.

“We are happy that the project has come to completion. Most of our projects sometimes disappear along the way.  But for us, as the city, even though there were some delays in the project we can report that this project is being completed. We just need to deal with final touches that will take us to the end of January,” Moya said.

She explained that while the project was envisaged to be finished in 2024 it was delayed for nine months due to the contractor's financial woes. 

Moya said the city helped the struggling contractor with a R18m cession agreement, paying manufacturers directly to keep the substation project on track.

“We deal with a lot of failed capital projects because legislation sometimes is rigid but now we are starting to learn some lessons on how to be proactive should you have a contractor that faces capacity issues. The delay was around nine months,” she said.

She said since October 2024 the city’s substations suffered fire incidents, adding that technologies have been installed at the Wapadrand substation to prevent fires from happening.

“Today is the day we are saying to the residents of Tshwane, especially the ones that are supplied from this substation, that we are aiming for stability and consistency of the supply to them,” she said.

Moya said the city's coffers take a hit with power cuts as the city relies heavily on electricity sales revenue.

She said the business unit under the city’s utility services department is tackling repairs and maintenance head-on to minimise power outages.

“Today, it is good news that we are able to conclude a project that has so many benefits not only for the residents but for business to a point where we can approve further developments because we have the assurance that we can cater to them and supply them with electricity,” she said.

Moya said the upgrade is part of the city's push to boost network reliability, increase capacity, and secure electricity supply for homes and businesses.

The work directly benefits communities and economic activity in Equestria, Faerie Glen, Lombardy, Silver Lakes, Six Fountains and other Wapadrand supply areas.

Following the 2021 catastrophic fire the city built a temporary substation to supply power to the area.

Moya said the city will be moving consumers from the temporary substation to Wapadrand in the next three days.

She said the city’s population has grown tremendously since 2011 from just over two million to four million in 2024, adding that the growth demands more infrastructure and capacity to meet rising electricity needs.

The city had also installed surveillance cameras linked to the Capital Park, helping to curb theft and vandalism. In addition, the staff efficiency has been improved through technology that enables them to monitor and control systems remotely from the Capital Park.

rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za