NELSON MANDELA BAY MUNICIPALITY INTENSIFIES RESPONSE TO ELECTRICITY OUTAGES ACROSS THE METRO
Published: May 13, 2026<< BACK TO NEWS
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The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality is implementing intensified interventions to address ongoing electricity outages affecting several communities across the Metro, following an increase in infrastructure related faults on both low voltage cable and overhead line networks.
The Municipality can confirm that the Electricity and Energy Directorate is currently attending to 549 low voltage cable faults and 556 low overhead line faults across various areas. These challenges are being driven by a combination of ageing infrastructure, persistent vandalism and theft of electrical infrastructure, adverse weather conditions, network overloading, and the increasing pressure placed on ageing electricity systems.
The Municipality acknowledges the frustration and inconvenience experienced by residents and businesses affected by the outages. Technical and operational teams continue to work extended hours daily, including late evenings and weekends, to reduce the impact on communities and accelerate restoration times.
Executive Mayor Lobishe reaffirms that "We understand the frustration and hardship experienced by residents affected by ongoing electricity outages across our Metro. As a caring and responsive Municipality, our priority remains the safety, dignity and wellbeing of our communities. Our technical teams are working tirelessly, often until late at night, to restore power, stabilise the network and reduce the impact on families, businesses, schools and essential services. While ageing infrastructure, vandalism and severe pressure on the electricity network continue to present significant challenges, we remain committed to accelerating interventions, strengthening response capacity and ensuring that no community is left behind during this difficult period”.
To strengthen response capacity and improve turnaround times, the Metro has also expanded its operational footprint through the appointment of additional subcontractors to support municipal technical teams in attending to faults and restoring electricity supply more efficiently.
The Municipality remains committed to stabilising the electricity network through ongoing maintenance, infrastructure upgrades, improved response coordination, and targeted interventions aimed at protecting critical infrastructure from vandalism and criminality.
Residents are urged to report acts of vandalism, illegal connections, cable theft, and damaged infrastructure, as these activities continue to negatively affect service delivery and delay restoration efforts across the Metro.
The Municipality further appeals for patience and cooperation as teams continue working around the clock to restore affected areas as safely and quickly as possible.
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