The three-day power failure in western Johannesburg was not a surprise, the Democratic Alliance said, and the party was seeking answers from the council on events surrounding the power failure.
The latest development is the discovery that oil spilled from the power station through storm water drains into the nearby Westdene dam, a statement from the DA read.
”What happened to the oil trap and why didn’t it work?” asked councillor Pat Brugman-Richards.
She said that birdlife in the area had been adversely affected.
”Ducks and other water birds were slowly coming back. We just finished cleaning the dam last week.”
The party planned to submit a list of questions on the power failures at the next council meeting on December 7.
These include whether the intended upgrading at the substation would be speeded up and whether human error and lack of supervision played a role.
Meanwhile, City Power said they had managed to reconnect power to three suburbs which had been without electricity since Monday.
A fire at the Hurst Hill substation caused power outages in Melville, Claremont, Northcliff-West, Sophiatown, Westdene, Crosby and Albertville.
By midnight on Wednesday power had been restored to Melville, Claremont and Northcliff-West, said City Power Joburg spokesperson Sol Masolo.
A problem with a transformer cable prevented electricity being restored to Sophiatown, Westdene, Crosby and Albertville.
He said technicians had rectified the problem and were on Thursday morning in the process of switching the remaining suburbs back on.
”If everything goes according to plan we hope that those suburbs will have electricity some time today [Thursday],” he said. – Sapa