Power is slowly being restored to Hangberg after an explosion at a substation injured three contractors and left the area without electricity.
The contractors, who had been working on a transformer, suffered electrical burns from the explosion on Monday morning, and the incident cut power to the Oude Skip area, Salamander Road and surrounds, according to a Facebook post by ward councillor Roberto Quintas.
“This morning, contractors who are working on electrical infrastructure upgrades in order to be able to generate more supply and add more homes to the network encountered difficulties when working on the transformer.
“Whilst doing this dangerous and technical work, three contract workers sustained injuries, with one worker sustaining serious injury. Due to the size of the affected area, the City will not be able to bypass supply via a generator, and due to the nature of injury on duty, the City will have to wait for a go-ahead from the national Department of Labour before starting on repairs,“ he said.
Hangberg resident Cedric Goliath took to Facebook on Monday to express frustration with the situation, saying, “We accept the fact that we have received prior notification of the work to be done, but now we have to suffer being without electricity for 24 hours and there is no resolve.”
Ismail Davids told the Sentinel that it was concerning that it had taken so long to do repairs.
“We as ratepayers are upset because this matter isn’t being attended to. I have elderly people in my household that desperately need electricity. The food will also go off in the fridge and freezer… If this was in an area like the village or Camps Bay, then there would have been a team attending to this problem.”
At 6am on Tuesday, the City had used two generators to provide a temporary power supply to most of the affected areas, Mr Quintas said on Facebook.
“One generator is feeding supply to upper Oude Skip with Lions Paw, Roman and Vulcan lanes all experiencing power. The second generator is supplying lower Oude Skip with Bellows Close, Anvil Close and Karbonkel Road experiencing consistent power.
“The only road that is still without power is East Fort. However, a third generator is en route from Atlantis. The City remains on standby for the go-ahead from the national Department of Labour, which is required to green-light repairs once they have concluded their own investigation into workers sustaining injuries on duty.”
The City said it was also investigating the incident.
“The City apologises for any inconvenience caused and will work with the Department of Labour to see that supply is restored as quickly as humanly possible,“ said mayoral committee member for energy Beverley van Reenen.
She said the three hospitalised contractors were in a stable condition.
