--- title: "Nelson Mandela Bay metro asks council to urgently approve millions for security firm looking after substations" description: "If the company is not paid, the substations are at risk of being left unguarded and, therefore, vulnerable to vandalism, which could cause costly power outages" type: "NewsArticle" publisher: "Daily Maverick" site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za" section: "VANDALS’ DELIGHT" author: "Estelle Ellis" author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/estelle-ellis/" canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-06-17-nmb-metro-asks-council-to-approve-millions-for-firm-guarding-substations/" published: "2025-06-17T22:06:20" updated: "2025-06-18T20:59:50" lang: "en-ZA" word_count: 561 --- # Nelson Mandela Bay metro asks council to urgently approve millions for security firm looking after substations > If the company is not paid, the substations are at risk of being left unguarded and, therefore, vulnerable to vandalism, which could cause costly power outages By Estelle Ellis · Published 18 June 2025, 00:06 SAST · Updated 18 June 2025, 22:59 SAST ## Key points - Nelson Mandela Bay's acting city manager is scrambling for cash to keep the guards on duty and fend off the ever-looming threat of cable thieves and vandals. - Nelson Mandela Bay's acting city manager seeks urgent council approval to reallocate funds to pay a security firm guarding key substations, amid rising cable theft. - The city owes R21-million to the security provider, with a R7-million payment already made to prevent guard withdrawal and protect against vandalism. - The Business Chamber's Adopt-a-Substation initiative has successfully safeguarded substations, including Struandale, from theft through 24/7 security measures. - Calls for government intervention include declaring substations as national key points and deploying the army, as vandalism poses a significant risk to the city's power supply. ## Content Nelson Mandela Bay’s acting city manager, Ted Pillay, has asked for an urgent decision by council to approve the reallocation of more than R20-million from the current year’s budget to pay the security firm guarding some of the city’s major substations. According to council documents, the urgent payment will avoid the security firm’s withdrawal, and leaving the city’s substations vulnerable to theft and vandalism. In a metro where cable theft is rife, Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB) now owes its security service provider R21-million, according to a report before council. A payment of R7-million was made last week to avoid the substations being abandoned by guards. The matter is expected to be heard on Wednesday, 18 June, after it was deferred because not all councillors had seen the documents. #### **Adopt-a-substation** Wayne Hart, from Atlas Security, said that while his organisation is not the security provider owed millions by the municipality, Atlas does guard crucial substations in several parts of the city as part of the Business Chamber’s Adopt-a-Substation programme. As part of this programme, businesses fund private security to protect substations against attacks. Highlighting the importance of security at these substations, Hart said the company protects the large substation at Struandale. Part of its plan involves stationing guards and security vehicles there 24/7. “This initiative was launched two years ago, and to date we haven’t had one single incident. Before our involvement that substation was a target and would often knock half of the industrial areas out,” he said. He added that his company also monitors alarms at other substations and responds accordingly. Other security measures employed under the Adopt-a-Substation initiative include perimeter fencing and the installation of hi-tech security cameras monitored around the clock. **Read more:**[Eight suspects arrested for vandalism, cable theft in one night](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-06-01-eight-suspects-arrested-for-vandalism-cable-theft-in-one-night/) #### **Letter to the Presidency** In a letter written to the Presidency, several government departments and Eskom in late 2024, the CEO of the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber, Denise van Huyssteen, requested that the government declare the two substations at Chatty in NMB as national key points. She also asked that the government consider sending in the army to protect the infrastructure. In her letter Van Huyssteen highlighted that in 2023 there had been several incidents of cable theft at the municipal substation, and the fence and alarms were tampered with to gain access. It is estimated that damage to the crucial Chatty substations could lead to power outages of several weeks in NMB. In the past 12 months, there have been several reported instances of vandalism at substations in the metro leaving residents without power. **Read more:**[Nelson Mandela Bay metro will brand electrical cables in bid to foil rampant theft](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-06-05-nelson-mandela-bay-metro-will-brand-electrical-cables-in-bid-to-foil-rampant-theft/) #### **Major risk** In its 2025 integrated development report, vandalism is highlighted as one of the major risks facing the city. The report also states that the metro’s electricity department will have to be subsidised by municipal rates to remain viable. Opposition parties have repeatedly argued in council that the electricity department would bankrupt the city if a successful turnaround plan was not implemented. “We have not seen a turnaround plan yet,” said Werner Senekal, a Democratic Alliance member in the council . In its application to the National Energy Regulator for tariff increases, the metro said vandalism and cable theft are two of the factors hampering an efficient electricity service in NMB. **DM**