Kariega battling with unplanned outages
Mabandla substation cable fault blamed for blackouts
While big business has managed to weather the worst unplanned power outages that have plunged Despatch, Kariega and KwaNobuhle into darkness for up to six hours a day since Sunday, smaller ones have not been so lucky.
They have either completely closed up shop or reduced operating hours.
Since Sunday, the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality has been battling to keep the power on for Despatch, Kariega and KwaNobuhle after a major cable fault at the Mabandla substation.
This also led to intermittent blackouts at the Nelson Mandela Bay Logistics Park in Kariega.
Infrastructure and engineering political head Khanya Ngqisha said the outages at the Mabandla 66kV substation stemmed from an electrical fault along the 66kV overhead line connecting the San Souci 66kV Substation to Mabandla.
This fault was attributed to the collapse of the earth conductor, subsequently causing complications with the insulator on the second line.
“The falling earth conductor affected the insulator on the other line, leading to additional complications.
“Upon identification of the defective section, immediate action was taken to cut off the section to eliminate immediate risks.
“Despite initial mitigation efforts, the remaining section of the earth conductor fell off due to instability, further affecting the line’s integrity.
“However, unfavourable weather conditions have delayed the repair process on overhead line 1; the contractor has been informed and is ready to conduct repair work.
“Once repairs are completed, it is expected that the electrical system will be fully restored, and measures should be taken to prevent similar incidents in the future,” he said.
While the municipality will use a phased approach to light up different sections of Despatch, Kariega and KwaNobuhle, some small businesses said they were forced to shut down.
KwaNobuhle businessman Luthando Mange said he had to close his businesses yesterday after running generators on Monday which was costly.
Mange owns the Jwara’s Tavern chain which has two outlets, along with Endawni Lounge and Braai house.
’I have closed everything because we do not have stable power. I am losing thousands of rand in business, so it is affecting us.
“We used the generator on Monday, but petrol is expensive,” he said.
“We had to close some of the outlets early because it was not sustainable.”
Shenko Exclusive Barbershop owner Mjikeleli Majola, also based in KwaNobuhle, said the outages were a double whammy as they had no water since Saturday.
“There has been no communication from the municipality.
“We have lost two business days because we have no generator,” Majola said.
Nishan Adams, who owns Your Second Wife Takeaways in Kariega, said the outages placed them with a significant burden.
“The cost of fuel to power the generators has soared, putting a strain on our budget.
“Additionally, the frequent need to refill our gas supply to maintain our stoves’ functioning has significantly increased operational expenses,” Adams said.
They did not have power for four hours on Monday, and only had two hours of power yesterday, Adams said.
“Regrettably, the recurring power outages have hindered our ability to maintain a consistent level of service, which has been particularly challenging,” she said.
Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber chief executive Denise van Huyssteen said manufacturers in Kariega had lost production time which affected export targets.
“[There are also] high costs incurred due to scrap and damage to machinery and equipment, and in some cases the implementation of short time,” Van Huyssteen said.
She said the frequency of unplanned power outages in the metro’s industrial areas continued to be a major concern for the chamber which has been actively tracking them since January last year.
“We believe that these outages are caused by a combination of factors including the lack of maintenance and investment in electricity infrastructure, vandalism and the overall strain on electricity infrastructure which has not been designed to withstand prolonged load-shedding.
“We have flagged our concerns with the municipality and are advocating for a solutions-orientated approach to be adopted to ensure that the electricity infrastructure is maintained,” Van Huyssteen said.
Volkswagen Group Africa spokesperson Andile Dlamini said the company had been relying on backup power.
“We are using our generators for backup power supply to keep the production running,” he said.
Coega Development Corporation spokesperson Ayanda Vilakazi said power had since been restored to the logistics park.