12 points about Oslo Beach’s 53 hour blackout

WARD Councillor Carole Potter outlines what transpired in Oslo Beach, when residents were left powerless for up to 53 hours last week:

•  A severe storm on Thursday caused damage to a cable in the CBD and a transformer at Albersville. At the same time, during load shedding, it appears that workers laying the yellow cables cut through a main cable at Oslo Beach, so no-one was injured.
•  Staff worked on the faults CBD and Albersville before looking for the problem at Oslo Beach, not knowing about the cut cable. This was in the late hours of Thursday night. Early the next morning, they continued until they found the problem.
• Local service providers were asked to fix the fault, but declined on the grounds that staff had already gone home, or for other reasons.
• The HOD Infrastructure then had to organise emergency procurement and funding for an outside service provider from Durban to be brought in. By the time he was able to find one, it was already late afternoon and the electrician still had to travel to the South Coast.
• Whilst his arrival was awaited,  a report was received that the transformer in Rathboneville Road had blown. Shortly after this, another report was received about the same problem at a transformer in Narvik Road.
• Once the service provider arrived, he began work on the main cable, and by 3am on Saturday, electricity was restored to all of Oslo Beach apart from Orsta Crescent/Narvik roads, and part of Kvalsvig Road in Rathboneville.
•  Cllr Potter  was contacted by residents of these streets at 5.30am on Saturday, and in turn informed the HOD. Electricity was eventually restored  to Orsta/Naarvik roads at around by 11am, and to Kvalsvig Road at about 1pm.
• Oslo Beach was already  without power for a scheduled repair on Thursday, and once supply was re-connected, load shedding was introduced. By the end of this period, some people had been without electricity for up to 53 hours. Most had lost their freezer and fridge contents due to spoilage. A  SAPS officer who had been away on business returned home on Friday night to find his kitchen awash with bloody water from thawed freezer contents.
• Oslo Beach experiences so many power outages that, according to Cllr Potter,  some believe there a conspiracy by HCM against those living in the area. “I was even phoned by a resident at 11.40pm on Thursday who wished to discuss just that, and  the following morning, I fielded calls from others believing the same.” she said.
• Cllr Potter apologises for the fact that a system of informing residents by sms  about what is happening and updating them has not yet been implemented. “Indeed, I have had to resort to contacting the HOD and municipal manager as I could not find information elsewhere.  Our control room staff are also not informed, yet they have to take continual abuse from angry residents.”
• Residents pay an enormous sum for electricity and should be prioritised where communication and service delivery is concerned, Cllr Potter points out.  At the end of this long period without power, most residents no longer charge left in their cellphone batteries. Some criminals took advantage of the pitch dark and several housebreakings were reported. “It is a very vulnerable time for those living under these conditions, and I feel we should have had more visible Law Enforcement as a pro-active measure during such times,” adds Cllr Potter.
•  The councillor also  feels that the municipal manager must advise those affected against whom they can claim for damages and loss of fridge and freezer contents.