Massive explosion and electricity outages leave Nelson Mandela Bay facing a week without water

Former Executive Mayor, Nelson Mandela Bay Retief Odendaal visits the site of the Coega substation explosion in 2023. (Photo: Supplied)

By Estelle Ellis

12 Mar 2023

The Nelson Mandela Bay metro braces for week-long water outages after two major electricity failures and a substation explosion.

A large substation in Nelson Mandela Bay’s industrial development zone exploded on Saturday night, causing more widespread water outages in a metro that has been hard-hit by ongoing water shortages and drought.

The explosion led to the third major electricity blackout to hit the water supply line in four days.

Authorities said there were signs of forced entry at the substation.

Water supply to Nelson Mandela Bay has been in crisis for some time with supply dams now having only 6.97% of water left, or around 19,114 megalitres.

nelson mandela bay odendaal Nelson Mandela Bay Executive Mayor Retief Odendaal visits the site of the Coega substation explosion. (Photo: Supplied)

Nelson Mandela Bay is one of the country’s widest metros, making water crisis management very difficult. Its water supply is mainly from the Nooitgedacht Water Scheme, which requires it to pump water from its eastern side to its western side, but electricity failures make this impossible.

Visit Daily Maverick’s home page for more news, analysis and investigations

“This has seriously affected our ability to stabilise the system, which simply can’t meet demand,” Nelson Mandela Bay Executive Mayor Retief Odendaal said of the three extensive electricity outages that had hit the city since Thursday.

The first one saw a crucial pump at the Motherwell Pump Station go off, which meant the metro could not pump water from the Nooitgedacht scheme.

On Thursday night, an overhead cable snapped on the Summit line, tripping the Ditchling substation and leaving the Loerie Pump Station offline, leading to a massive water outage.

“We saw one reservoir after the other being depleted last night due to high demand,” Odendaal said on Sunday.

“We are disappointed that consumers are non-responsive to this crisis. While there are so many people that are doing their utmost to conserve our precious water resources, there are also those that remain irresponsible by refusing to change their water consumption lifestyle.

“We have started to block water supply to some reservoirs in a bid to redirect water to zones that have been without water for days. This will mean different areas will start experiencing water outages that may last up to a week.”

Fines

Odendaal said fines of up to R5,000 would be issued to anyone found contravening restrictions. Residents have been asked to report culprits to the municipality.

Then, on Saturday night, the Coega substation exploded, causing damage estimated at R40-million.

“We just heard one hell of a bang, and then our power went off,” said Eileen Leander, who lives at the Aloes Community. “I am angry because the power came back later, but now my television’s sound doesn’t work any more.”

Odendaal visited the substation on Sunday morning and convened the emergency joint operations committee. The committee said after the meeting that “foul play” was suspected.

Fifteen large industries housed at the Coega Special Economic Zone (SEZ) were left without power for hours, along with residents in Motherwell and the surrounding suburbs. The SEZ is home to several large companies that require 24-hour refrigeration.

Metro spokesperson Mthubanzi Mniki said the metro was launching a full independent investigation into the cause of the explosion.

On Sunday, crisis meetings were held with the Coega Development Corporation and the affected businesses.

“As a short-term electricity solution and to circumvent further negative impact on customers and residents, plans are under way to back-feed and restore the electricity supply from another substation also within the Coega SEZ,” Mniki said. “In the medium term, a line will be constructed to reconnect the affected residents and industry from the nearby substation while construction work to rehabilitate the substation continues.

“Security is currently being reinforced to protect critical strategic infrastructure,” he said.

Theft and vandalism

Vandalism of electricity infrastructure has been rife in Nelson Mandela Bay for the past few years. Following several incidents, the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber’s Struandale cluster, located about 20km from the substation that exploded on Saturday night, appointed armed security guards to protect substations, instituting 24-hour patrols and installing security cameras.

Denise van Huyssteen, CEO of the business chamber, said she hoped the initiative would help address vandalism at these key facilities and prevent power outages commonly caused by acts of criminality in the area.

“Over the past year or so, it has become apparent that cable and infrastructure theft and vandalism are among the greatest threats to our local economy. In 2021, there were nine unplanned power outages in the Struandale area, and since the start of this year, the figure has reached 16, highlighting the seriousness of this problem.”

Van Huyssteen said the attacks on infrastructure in the metro were a significant concern because they affected water and electricity supply.

“It is equally as destructive as load shedding,” she said.

Ayanda Vilakazi, from the Coega Development Corporation, said the organisation would comment on Monday once details became clearer. DM

Categories:

Tags:

DM is much better if you are signed in...

South Africa

Fines

Theft and vandalism