A REWARD of R100 000 has been offered by the City of Johannesburg following the suspected sabotage at the Eikenhof substation.
WATCH:
https://www.facebook.com/SouthernCourierSA/videos/721843871486719/
A fire broke out at Rand Water’s Eikenhof pumping station on August 27, damaging transformers and leaving some parts of Johannesburg in darkness and without water.
On August 28, City of Johannesburg mayor Councillor Herman Mashaba said it was brought to his attention that City Power officials suspected that the fire may have been the result of sabotage.
A video has emerged showing that the fire originated outside the transformer at the substation.
The transformer appeared to have been maliciously damaged so that it would leak oil onto the fire.
This is not consistent with a fire originating from an electrical fault.
WATCH:
“The extent of the damage and the critical role of this substation is huge. We’ve made an offer of R100 000 to anyone who can come out with information that can assist us in uncovering this criminal act. We are happy that the electricity has been restored. However, some areas are still without water,” said Mashaba.
According City Power CEO Lerato Setshedi, the transformer that burnt costs approximately R30m.
“The damage to the infrastructure was so severe that it would have taken nothing less than 72 hours to fix and restore power to the residents. But the dedication and hard work of the women and men engineers and technicians, who worked tirelessly around the clock, ensured that 32 hours later power was restored. We thank them for putting everything into this operation to ensure our customers get electricity as soon as possible,” he said.
WATCH:
https://www.facebook.com/SouthernCourierSA/videos/306726366770597/
Justice Mohale, media relations manager from Rand Water, said an explosion of an electrical transformer at Rand Water’s Eikenhof Pumping Station affected water supply to consumers in parts of western Johannesburg, the West Rand as well as Rustenburg in the North West province. The transformer is owned by Johannesburg City Power and is part of the electricity facility supplying power to the Eikenhof pumping station.
Also Read:
WATCH: Suspected sabotage in Eikenhof substation fire
[GALLERY + VIDEOS]: Huge fire in Rand Water Eikenhof station affects electricity
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