The Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism Department is calling for the incident response team to intensify the search and rescue of seabirds and marine life that were affected by the oil spill in Algoa Bay.
Authorities said up to 400 litres of oil were spilt during a fuelling transfer from one ship to another on Saturday morning.
On Tuesday, the South African National Parks marine rangers recovered 12 heavily oiled penguins on the St Croix Island - as well as a cormorant and a cape gannet.
Sanparks spokesperson Fayroush Luddick says a further six heavily oiled penguins were taken off Bird island on Wednesday bringing to 22 the total number of oil polluted penguins and sea birds rescued so far.
MEC Mlungisi Mvoko says following the incident, the department has been in constant liaison with the response team to ascertain the level of mitigation measures.
Mvoko says preparing to respond to an oil spill requires collaboration and coordination with many stakeholders including the private sector as this is not something they can deal with alone.
Rangers stayed overnight on St Croix Island looking for more affected penguins
