Planned electrical outage affects large parts of BCM

Planned electrical maintenance by Buffalo City Metro affected large parts of East London and disrupted the operations at  several businesses on Sunday.

The 12-hour outage, scheduled from 6am to 6pm, reportedly halted operations at a petrol station, which could not pump fuel, and there were fears it might disrupt sporting activities.

Areas affected included the East London CBD, Bunkershill, the beachfront, Southernwood, Stirling, Nahoon, Duncan Village, Parkside, Braelyn Industrial Area, Arcadia, North End and Milner Estate.

Metro spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya apologised to the affected residents and businesses.

“Operationally we have contingencies to minimise business disruptions, including advanced warning,” he said.

“Businesses should have contingency measures like generators.”

Ngwenya said the outage allowed BCM to isolate the 132kv overhead line from the Woodbrook to Queens Park stations for crucial maintenance on Structure 5.

“We understand the frustrations, but delaying maintenance could have disastrous consequences for our electricity infrastructure.”

Social media users feared disruptions to a water polo event under way at the Joan Harrison pool, but organisers allayed concerns.

Organiser Derek Breetzke said the outage had not affected the event.

“All venues have backup power; no issue for us,” he said.

The Schools Water Polo SA tournament began on Saturday with more than 1,600 participants.

Breetzke praised BCM’s assistance.

“They’ve been fantastic. The Joan Harrison facility is in great condition.”

Efforts to determine the extent of business disruptions were unsuccessful as Border-Kei Chamber of Business executive director Lizelle Maurice could not be reached for comment.

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