Yesterday morning’s widespread power outage over East London’s central suburbs was not the result of Eskom’s load shedding or BCM’s ageing electricity infrastructure.
Instead it was a case of monkey business that caused an explosion at the Chiselhurst substation.
A rogue vervet monkey leapt into the facility and was electrocuted, leaving suburbs like Amalinda, Vincent, Chiselhurst, Berea, Stirling, Cambridge, Nahoon and Dorchester Heights in the dark for an hour. The vervet did not survive his escapade.
BCM spokesman Keith Ngesi confirmed a monkey caused the explosion and that a planned outage would be announced to fix the damage.
He said that at about 7.30am yesterday morning BCM’s call centre agents heard a loud explosion which led to the blackout.
It was later discovered that a monkey had jumped into the facility and caused a spark which later led to an explosion.
Ngesi said this was the first time that a primate had caused a power outage in the city.
Lyn Shelley of the Debracy Primate Rehabilitation Centre explained that vervets were naturally curious.
“It probably wanted to see what was going on . I’m heartsore because it’s like a human being electrocuted. They have the same pain and feeling as human beings,” said Shelley, who is known as the city’s Monkey Lady, and is currently rehabilitating about 100 rescued vervets at her sanctuary near East London.
She said even though vervets had encroached into residential areas in suburbs like Gonubie, Beacon Bay and Amalinda, they were in fact decreasing in numbers.
“Troops are a quarter of the size they used to be because some people classify them as vermin and shoot them.”
She said it was vital not to feed wild monkeys which then associate humans with food.
“If you feed a monkey you are signing its death warrant because there are always people who don’t like them and will kill them.” — barbarah@dispatch.co.za
Electrocuted monkey causes darkness in city
Instead it was a case of monkey business that caused an explosion at the Chiselhurst substation.
A rogue vervet monkey leapt into the facility and was electrocuted, leaving suburbs like Amalinda, Vincent, Chiselhurst, Berea, Stirling, Cambridge, Nahoon and Dorchester Heights in the dark for an hour. The vervet did not survive his escapade.
BCM spokesman Keith Ngesi confirmed a monkey caused the explosion and that a planned outage would be announced to fix the damage.
He said that at about 7.30am yesterday morning BCM’s call centre agents heard a loud explosion which led to the blackout.
It was later discovered that a monkey had jumped into the facility and caused a spark which later led to an explosion.
Ngesi said this was the first time that a primate had caused a power outage in the city.
Lyn Shelley of the Debracy Primate Rehabilitation Centre explained that vervets were naturally curious.
“It probably wanted to see what was going on . I’m heartsore because it’s like a human being electrocuted. They have the same pain and feeling as human beings,” said Shelley, who is known as the city’s Monkey Lady, and is currently rehabilitating about 100 rescued vervets at her sanctuary near East London.
She said even though vervets had encroached into residential areas in suburbs like Gonubie, Beacon Bay and Amalinda, they were in fact decreasing in numbers.
“Troops are a quarter of the size they used to be because some people classify them as vermin and shoot them.”
She said it was vital not to feed wild monkeys which then associate humans with food.
“If you feed a monkey you are signing its death warrant because there are always people who don’t like them and will kill them.” — barbarah@dispatch.co.za
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos