GQEBERHA – Residents and businesses face up to 21 days without electricity following the collapse of a transmission pylon on the Chelsea–Arlington–Walmer–Summerstrand line on Wednesday, 18 March, causing outages across parts of the metro
The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality said the restoration process is expected to take approximately three weeks due to the extent of the damage and the complexity of the work required to rebuild and stabilise the network.
“Based on the extent of the damage to the transmission infrastructure, the restoration process is expected to take approximately 21 days,” the municipality said. “This timeline reflects the scale and complexity of the work required to rebuild and stabilise the network.”
This is not the first pylon collapse along the line. A previous failure on 11 March caused widespread outages across multiple suburbs, leaving residents and businesses temporarily without electricity.
The repeated incidents have raised concerns about the safety and reliability of the metro’s ageing infrastructure.
Democratic Alliance (DA) mayoral candidate Retief Odendaal warned that further electricity outages could occur if compromised pylons are not urgently replaced.
In a social media statement, he said the latest collapse highlights ongoing risks to the metro’s energy supply and the impact on households and businesses.
Regarding the current restoration, Odendaal said that Eskom had confirmed it would send a team to assist. “This is good news because we really need all hands-on deck in order to get the line reinstated,” he shared, adding that the work is technically complex and requires careful planning.
The municipality provided details of the restoration process, which includes dismantling nine damaged towers, installing twelve new monopoles, excavating around 60 foundation holes, clearing access paths, transporting heavy materials, and stringing approximately six kilometres of conductor to reconnect the line.
“Each of these steps is essential to ensure that repairs are completed safely, effectively, and in compliance with engineering standards,” the municipality said. “While every effort is being made to expedite the process, safety and quality remain the top priorities.”
Odendaal warned of the wider economic and social impact of repeated outages.
“The impact an unreliable electricity grid has on business confidence in the City is immense. We are literally gambling with our livelihoods if the metro continues on this trajectory.”
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