Repeated electricity outages in Nelson Mandela Bay, caused by long-neglected infrastructure, are crippling businesses, disrupting water supply and threatening jobs, civil society leaders say.

The Nelson Mandela Bay municipality has been strongly criticised by members of the Coalition for Civil Society for failing to maintain its electricity infrastructure, following a five-day blackout caused by the collapse of two pylons on the Bethelsdorp-Greenbushes 132kV line.

The power outages that began on 22 January caused widespread water disruptions, and although electricity was restored on Tuesday, many communities remain without water as infrastructure faults continue to be reported daily.

The municipality has largely attributed the collapse of the pylons to vandalism, but Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber CEO Denise van Huysteen said the core problem lay in the city's electricity infrastructure, which had suffered from years of inadequate maintenance.

Van Huyssteen was speaking at a press briefing called by the Coalition for Civil Society, held to sign a social impact document and reaffirm the group's commitment to collective civic responsibility.

"Many have experienced blackouts with these massive power outages in various areas. We also have ongoing outages across the city, and we've been tracking them over the years, and all point to the need for maintenance of electricity, water and sanitation infrastructure. The pylons primarily collapsed because of the lack of maintenance; vandalism is a secondary issue."...