Benoni CPF executive chairperson Reza Patel said the EMPD officers were spread thin when the power went out.
“They (the EMPD) came to the table, but you did not see them in numbers because of the number of points they had to look after,” he explained.
He said this was aggravated by the few members on duty at any given time.
An electrical fault is to blame for the fire which started at a Rynfield substation, according to Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM) spokesperson Themba Gadebe.
The resulting fire left large sections of Benoni without electricity from 5am on Friday morning and caused fires at four mini substations around the city.
Affected areas included Ebotse, Morehill, Northmead, Crystal Park, Putfontein, Brentwood Park, Fairleads, Benoni Agricultural Holdings and parts of Daveyton.
The EMM said the Northern areas of Benoni, as well as Daveyton, were also affected by the outage, as a result of a trip at the Eskom Benburg substation, which is linked to the Rynfield substation.
The fire damaged a transformer at the substation, which could have been worse had it not been for the quick response from firefighters.
Metro mayor Clr Mondli Gungubele visited the Rynfield substation on Friday, to address the media and give an update on the situation.
At the time, he said 70 per cent of power in Benoni would be restored by the following day.
On Saturday, at around 2pm, the MMC for Water and Energy, Clr Doctor Xhakaza, declared that all power had been restored to the area.
Meanwhile, Patel said the CPF were called in to assist with high traffic volumes at the intersection of Great North Road and Celia Nestadt Street, Great North Road and Mercury Street, Cloverdene and Pretoria roads, Pretoria and Vlei roads and Celia Nestadt and Stokroos streets.
He said the CPF may not direct traffic unless asked to do so by law enforcement.
Ward 28’s Clr Mary Goby criticised the response from the EMPD.
“The communication in EMM needs to be looked at and redressed, because departments are not talking to each other,” she said.
“The minute the electricity department knew there was a problem, they should have informed the EMPD to get help.
“This did not happen.”
The EMM has set aside R20-million towards the refurbishment and upgrading of the entire substation within the 2015/2016 financial year.
The refurbishments will include the installation of modern switchgear, protection equipment and general upgrade work that will increase Rynfield 132kV substation’s stability and capacity to also cater for future developments in the area.
The municipality apologised for the inconvenience caused by the incident.
