Frustration, losses as damaged pipe leads to 46-hour power outage

A MASSIVE power outage saw parts of the city plunged into darkness for 46 hours at the weekend after three substations experienced faults on Friday.

The power outage began at 5.30pm on Friday and lasted until 3.30pm yesterday and affected Cotswold as well as parts of Fernglen.

Residents vented their frustration on social media about the long wait for the restoration of their electricity supply. Many held the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality responsible for damages incurred as their frozen and refrigerated goods had not survived the outage.

The problem was allegedly caused by workers contracted to the municipality who damaged a water pipe while laying fibre optic cables during construction work in Cape Road.

Municipal spokesman Roland Williams said the damaged pipe then led to damage to electricity cables which in turn affected the Notgroves, Fernglen Mini and Balmore substations. - Alvené du Plessis