Another substation collapsed in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro- the Summerstrand-Arlington 132 KV, plunging suburbs in the dark.
As a result, there were outages across Summerstrand affecteing areas up to the Marine Hotel, Humewood, Forest Hill, Southdene, Sections of South End, Summer Dunes, Happy Valley, Marine Towers, Strand View, the Boardwalk area, the Courtyard Hotel, the Cape Recife Waterworks, tertiary institutions such as UPE, Technikon Village, Kurumanskloof and surrounding areas, EP Command and SAWTRI.
Areas in Arlington without power are the Arlington Drift Sands (ADS), Driftsands Lovemore Park (DLP), Miramar, Pari Park, Providentia, Schoenmakerskop, Schoenmakerskop Village, Walmer (9th Avenue area), Walmer Dunes, Sections of Walmer Heights, Walmer Industrial, Walmer Location and the Willow area.
The Municipality said on Wednesday, its technical teams are on site working to restore electricity as quickly as possible.
But the local business chamber is frustrated by yet another power outage.
The Chamber singled out the collapse of the Chelsea / Arlington 132KV lattice tower, to highlight the impact of the lack of adequate and routine maintenance of the metro’s electricity infrastructure over many years.
Denise van Huyssteen, CEO of the Chamber, said in a statement “this time around commercial businesses and those serving the hospitality sector are the most impacted, along with institutions serving the vulnerable such as old age homes and other care facilities, as well as the residents living in the affected areas.”
Less than two months ago, two major electricity transmission towers on the Chatty/Bloemendal 132kV line collapsed, leaving large parts of the metro without electricity and water for five days.
Prior to this, in August 2025, the very same Chelsea/ Arlington 132kV line collapsed, causing a power outage for more than a week.
van Huyssteen is of the view that this is an emergency situation requiring urgent action, “among which should include the implementation of a comprehensive maintenance plan; renewal of vital maintenance contracts; effective spending of municipal infrastructure budgets available to conduct regular preventative maintenance; and robust security measures and CCTV monitoring in place, and the enforcement of law to protect our vital infrastructure that serves business and communities.”
She also suggested the 2026/27 budget be used to upgrade and maintain the main 132kv feeders.
Picture: Supplied