Accountability should be a non-negotiable in politics, and mayor Gary van Niekerk owes thousands of residents an explanation for his failure to act when warned about the imminent collapse of Nelson Mandela Bay’s power lines.

At Tuesday’s council meeting, ACDP councillor Lance Grootboom called for an investigation into the collapsed pylons and contract delays that left swathes of the city in darkness for many days, blaming the mayor for the outage...