Note to Editors: Please find English and Afrikaans soundbites by Ald Cilliers Brink here, and here
This morning yet another electricity substation in the Tshwane Metro went up in flames. This time Swartkop substation went up in flames, knocking out power to Clubview, Valhalla and Thaba Tshwane.
Tshwane must answer how many of the city’s substations have surge and fire protection.
No substation is meant to burn down due to voltage surges, whether caused by lighting or cables being hacked off. A surge protection system, backed by battery power, shuts down the substation before a fire breaks out.
This not only protects electricity infrastructure, but also human life.
If surge protection fails, the second line of defence is fire suppression. This might include sprinkler systems and the like, but it is a more sophisticated safeguard.
This is what makes Tshwane’s unusually high number of substation fires extremely suspicious.
After the Mooikloof substation fire last year, I ordered an investigation into the cause of these fires, including:
- An assessment of the state of surge protection systems at substations;
- A reconciliation of amounts paid to service providers who are appointed to repair substations after they have burnt down; and
- Reasons why a tender for the installation and repair of surge protection systems was not in place.
This was based on the suspicion that vested interests inside the city deliberately neglected surge protection systems. The rebuilding of substations by contractors is an easy way of extracting high amounts of money from the city in a short period of time.
By the time our administration was voted out of office, this investigation had not yet been completed.
My DA colleague Themba Fosi has asked a written question to Mayor Nasiphi Moya about this issue.
We expect an answer at or before the May council meeting, where the question has been placed on the agenda.