The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) has submitted a motion of no confidence against Nelson Mandela Bay Executive Mayor Babalwa Lobishe, citing repeated collapses of critical electricity transmission pylons and what the party describes as severe lapses in infrastructure maintenance and leadership.
Councillor Lance Grootboom of the ACDP tabled the motion following the latest pylon collapse yesterday on the Chelsea-Arlington line. This incident has left residents and businesses in affected areas without power for an estimated five days, compounding economic strain in a region known for its tourism and hospitality industry along the coastline.
Grootboom highlighted that this marks the third such collapse under Mayor Lobishe’s watch. He referenced a prior incident two years ago in the same Arlington-Chelsea corridor, which caused widespread outages impacting numerous businesses. More recently, just two to three weeks ago, a similar collapse occurred in the Greenbushes area, also resulting in five days without electricity.
The core issue, according to Grootboom, is a chronic lack of maintenance. He stated that the pylons have been visibly rusted for years, with the municipality—including the mayor—fully aware of the problem for more than a decade. The coastal location accelerates rust due to exposure, yet no service provider has been appointed to maintain or refurbish these high-transmission lines. Grootboom emphasized that heavy winds routinely cause collapses in the absence of proper upkeep.
Grootboom drew from his own experience as the former MMC for electricity during a previous coalition period, when he initiated the process to appoint a service provider after discovering no contract was in place for high-transmission lines. That effort was disrupted following the removal of the then-mayor Retief Odendaal in 2023, and the contract was later cancelled by the city manager at the time. No replacement provider has been secured since.
He criticized the current administration, noting that after the most recent prior collapse in January, officials—including the acting city manager and acting executive director of electricity—inspected the site and should have acted on known risks in the Arlington corridor. A report from the acting ED had warned the electricity committee that pylons in the Chelsea-Arlington area were at risk of collapse without intervention, but no action followed.
Grootboom rejected claims from the administration that previous collapses, such as in Greenbushes, were due to vandalism, insisting photos and evidence point clearly to neglect and lack of maintenance. He accused Mayor Lobishe of failing to steer the acting city manager—as the accounting officer—to prioritize refurbishment and appoint a service provider through proper procurement processes, rather than deviations.
The fallout extends beyond electricity, as power outages have halted water pumping, leaving various communities without water supply. Grootboom stressed that these failures disproportionately affect key economic zones.
The motion of no confidence, submitted today, calls for accountability and a vote on the mayor’s leadership, arguing that she has failed the residents of Nelson Mandela Bay by not addressing these preventable infrastructure crises. The motion is expected to be debated at an upcoming council meeting.