Bellville South substation and infrastructure upgrade

15 June 2025

The City’s Energy Directorate is currently undertaking major upgrades to the City’s electricity network. This week, a new electricity substation was installed in Bellville South, which will increase electricity capacity for businesses in the industrial business park and residents. This forms part of the City’s R4 billion investment into its Energy infrastructure over the next three years.

The City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Energy, Alderman Xanthea Limberg, and officials visited the industrial area in Bellville South where the upgrades were completed.
We had the opportunity to visit the industrial business park in Bellville South where our teams and contractors have been hard at work upgrading a key substation in the area following a large power user capacity upgrade application. The older substation which we replaced was approximately 50 years old.

This investment aligns with our broader efforts to ensure a stable and reliable electricity supply for both residents and businesses. In this financial year alone, the Bloemhof District Depo has successfully completed 17 critical infrastructure upgrades of this nature, with one more scheduled before the start of the new financial year. This latest upgrade also highlights the City’s efficient infrastructure planning and connection processes, which continue to deliver timely approvals and implementation of upgrade applications.

‘The City is moving with speed with its investment into upgrading its network in the metro and these investments are crucial to strengthening our grid and future proofing our infrastructure for generations to come,’ said Alderman Limberg.

Ongoing electricity infrastructure maintenance in communities

The City’s ongoing maintenance of its electricity infrastructure ensures that we can expand the lifespan of our community assets and most importantly ensure that we can provide a reliable service to residents.

Protect your Power Campaign to tackle R62 million vandalism, theft crisis

The City has spent approximately R62 million this financial year on electricity infrastructure maintenance and replacement.

This is a first of a kind campaign to highlight the massive impact of vandalism, theft, and illegal connections that leave our communities, neighbourhoods, and roadways in the dark. Much of our infrastructure is located within our communities, in some cases, right next to residents’ homes. The City is calling on you to help us Protect Your Power and build safer, brighter communities by reporting any suspicious activity anonymously to City’s Public Emergency Communication Centre (PECC).

Let’s ACT: Protect Your Power

Report suspicious behaviour to the City’s PECC: 021 480 7700
The SAPS remains the lead authority in crime prevention.

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Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office