Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) apologised to stakeholders and the public for Monday's flight disruptions at the OR Tambo International Airport.
The issue, blamed on a refuelling technical challenge, impacted approximately 177 flights and just over 22 thousand passengers.
ACSA says in a statement that the backlog further impacted flights, with 31 flights having to be cancelled.
It says the disruption was due to a shattered drive shaft, which prevented the pumping of jet fuel from storage tanks to the aprons, which enables aircraft refuelling.
The repair work was conducted in compliance with rigorous safety procedures.
ACSA says its board will conduct a thorough investigation, produce a report indicating the root causes of the incident, and take appropriate action to ensure a final solution as the full projects of new and replacement jet fuel lines are under implementation.
A preliminary incident report is being finalised, subject to the engineering team's laboratory analysis of the metal pieces to establish the reason for the drive shaft's breakage. This will form the basis of the Detailed investigation conducted by the Board.
Repair work was completed by 1 pm on Monday.
