GQEBERHA – Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality officials are on site today, 11 March, following the overnight collapse of a transmission pylon on the Chelsea, Arlington, Walmer, Summerstrand power line.
Initial technical assessments indicate that restoring electricity supply to affected areas could take up to 10 days, due to the complexity of rebuilding the collapsed structure and securing the transmission line.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Electricity and Energy, Councillor Ziyanda Mnqokoyi, together with Acting City Manager Advocate Lonwabo Ngoqo and Acting Executive Director for Electricity and Energy Bernhardt Lamour is currently assessing the situation at the scene.
According to a statement issued by the municipality, the incident has resulted in a power supply disruption affecting parts of Summerstrand and Walmer.
“Municipal electricity teams, engineers, and appointed contractors are already on site and work is underway to stabilise the line and implement emergency restoration measures,” the statement said.
Earlier this week municipal technical teams conducted oversight inspections on the line after identifying structural concerns on several pylons.
According to the municipality, following that inspection, they began initiating the required procurement and budget processes to prioritise urgent repairs on the affected infrastructure.
Unfortunately, one of the pylons collapsed overnight before the scheduled intervention work could begin.
“The municipality has now activated an emergency repair programme. Initial technical assessments indicate that restoration work may take up to 10 days due to the complexity of rebuilding the collapsed structure and securing the line safely,” the statement said.
All available technical resources have been mobilised and contractors have been instructed to accelerate work wherever possible in order to restore electricity supply to residents as quickly as possible.
According to the municipality, in the longer term, they will also prioritise funding to refurbish and strengthen the full Summerstrand line to prevent similar incidents and improve long-term electricity reliability in this corridor.
“We fully understand the frustration and inconvenience this outage is causing residents and businesses. The municipality will continue providing regular updates as work progresses on site,” the statement said.
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