City attends to almost 5 000 service requests from severe power infrastructure damage, outages across the city
12 May 2026
The City’s Electricity teams remain on the ground, attending to approximately 4 800 outstanding service requests received since yesterday morning. Please note that extraordinarily high call volumes will result in longer outages and the storm-damage to electrical equipment means restoration time will take long for certain outages. This is as repair work to damaged infrastructure takes long as infrastructure must be replaced completely and it is not simply a matter of restoring power.
Due to the enormous number of notifications, teams are prioritising work based on emergency considerations, this includes making downed power lines and cables, and infrastructure that is a danger to members of the public safe. The City apologises for the inconvenience and we thank our customers for understanding.
Escalation of service requests are only being attended to as it pertains to public safety and we urge our community leaders and the public not to add additional strain to the workload for the teams on the ground while they continue to restore areas and attend to life-threatening matters.
‘All City electricity teams and contractors have been working around the clock responding to widespread electricity outages and repairing weather-related damage to infrastructure across the metro. As an added proactive measure, we have pulled all our resources to restoring power to affected communities, including the suspension of all planned maintenance work so our full focus remains on storm-related infrastructure damage and power restoration.
A number of areas have already been restored, with critical electricity infrastructure repaired while work continues in all areas. Teams are currently unable to carry out overhead aerial platform work due to high wind speeds and priority is being given to fallen and live wires. Delays may also occur due to safety concerns and high call volumes.
‘The severe weather over the past few hours and overnight has caused widespread damage and our teams continue to respond to service requests as quickly as possible. Residents are strongly advised to avoid proximity to exposed electrical infrastructure, such as downed wires. Please report these incidents to the City and our teams will attend to them as quickly and safely as possible.
‘While many faults have already been resolved, additional outages may be reported today if strong winds and heavy downpours persist. We urge members not to log multiple service requests for the same issue, as this creates duplication, increases administrative lead times, and further delays our response,’ said the Mayoral Committee Member for Energy, Alderman Xanthea Limberg.
Logged electricity service requests (these are subject to fluctuation as data is cleaned up and requests are attended to):
|
Area |
Logged Requests |
|---|
|
East (Helderberg| Oostenberg | Bloemhof | Parow) |
1 200 |
|
North (Vanguard | Mowbray | City | Atlantis) |
1 130 |
|
South (Mitchells Plain | Wynberg | Gugulethu | Muizenberg) |
2 496 |
Note: These figures fluctuate quickly with new requests logged and as teams move from one resolved fault to the next.
Remember:
Report electricity faults to the City via our service channels and only use one reporting channel when reporting so that duplicate service requests are avoided as far as possible.
Affected parts of areas include, but are not limited to:
- Gugulethu
- Weltevreden Valley
- Philippi
- Bergvliet
- Steenberg
- Southfield
- Fish Hoek
- Meadowridge
- Heathfield
- Plumstead
- Ottery
- Kenilworth
- Wetton
- Claremont
- Constantia
- Wynberg
- Grassy Park
- Lotus River
- Portland
- Langa
- Lansdowne
- Heideveld
- Crawford
- Sunlands
- Rylands
- Sybrand Park
- Pinelands
- Kensington
- Maitland
- Soneike
- De Kuilen
- Vredekloof
- Brackenfell
- Kenridge
- Durbanville
- Valmary Park
- De La Haye
- Chrismar
- Strand
- Helena Heights
- Asanda
- Richmond Estate
- Rondebosch East
- Welcome Estate
- Mowbray
- Milnerton
- Observatory
- Oakglen
- Manenberg
- Joe Slovo Park
- Paarden Eiland
- Somerset West
- Highbury
Please note:
The City's area outages list is updated as information is received from the Electricity teams. If an area is not included, it does not mean teams are not aware of the matter. Residents in Eskom-supply areas are encouraged to contact Eskom directly regarding their electricity faults.
Electricity services and damage: (please only log on one channel):
Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
