Power outages and cable theft in Port Alfred

Ndlambe Municipality issued the following statement at 4pm on Tuesday 16 August

Vandalism by cable thieves has caused a series of power outages affecting Port Alfred, mostly the West Bank, during the past 48 hours.

Sunday 14 August at 4.50pm Vandals exposed the highvoltage cable that runs underground in front of the Old Power Station. They damaged the cable, causing a trip at Putt Bridge substation.

Action taken: Electrical contractors CDR found that the fault was between Beach Road Sub Station and Putt Bridge. This cable was then isolated and power restored to all other affected areas excluding Beach Road Sub Station and the Royal Alfred Hotel. These were not switched back on due to fear of overloading the 16mmHV cable.

Eya Bantu contractors were called to assist in pinpointing the location of the cable fault. Once the fault was identified, the appropriate spares were ordered and collected and the cable was joined in two places. Once the jointing was completed, Eya Bantu tested the cable and it was brought back into commission. Affected areas, including Beach Sub and Royal Alfred Hotel, were back on. The joint hole was filled, ensuring that no cable was exposed or close to ground level. Power was restored to customers by 6pm on Monday 15 August.

Monday 15 August about midnight

Thieves again exposed the cable and damaged it once more, causing it to trip Putt Bridge substation again.

The South African Police Service was informed and a case was opened Tuesday 16 August.

The damaged cable was once again isolated from the system and power restored to all other areas excluding the Hotel. Beach Road Substation was switched on via a 16mm highvoltage cable. Because this is a smaller cable, electricians have been watching it closely to make sure there is no overload.

CDR collected more spares in East London on Tuesday.

Tuesday 16 August at 2pm

Repairs are completed and power was restored by 2pm to all customers including the Hotel.

Ndlambe Municipality would like to thank residents and business owners for their patience while power was restored, and CDR for their professionalism in addressing the task at hand.

We take the threat to public infrastructure very seriously and will be addressing this urgently in collaboration with the South African Police Service.