The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality would like to inform residents that a major electricity outage is currently affecting a large portion of Nelson Mandela Bay following the tripping of the Ditchling 1 and Ditchling 2 132kV circuit breakers at the Chatty Substation.
Technical teams are currently investigating the cause of the trip and are working to restore supply as quickly and safely as possible.
AFFECTED AREAS: A large number of areas across Nelson Mandela Bay are currently impacted by this outage. The full extent of the affected network is still being assessed.
Updates will be communicated as more information becomes available.
The Municipality apologises for the inconvenience caused and thanks residents for their patience and understanding while technical teams work to restore power.
UODATE:
Following an investigation, it was determined that the outage was caused by a TLB that made contact with the overhead lines in the Swartkops area, resulting in damage to the network and the eventual failure of the line.
Since the incident occurred, municipal electricity teams have been working to restore supply and minimise the impact on residents, businesses and essential services. Through strategic backfeeding and network reconfiguration, approximately 80% of the areas affected by the outage have already had their electricity supply restored.
Electricity supply has successfully been restored to much of the Central Gqeberha network, including the North End area, the inner city and the Central Business District (CBD).
The remaining affected area is the Ibhayi-Struandale supply network, where technical teams are currently carrying out isolation procedures to enable safe backfeeding through an alternative line. This work is being undertaken with urgency to restore power to all remaining customers as soon as possible.
The Municipality understands the frustration and inconvenience that prolonged power outages cause for households, businesses and community facilities. We sincerely thank residents for their patience, understanding and cooperation while our teams continue to work under challenging conditions to restore supply safely and efficiently.
Further updates will be communicated as restoration work progresses.
