Businesses step in to protect Nelson Mandela Bay substa…

In an innovative plan to try to ensure constant electricity supply, members of the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber have stepped up to provide security guards to protect the metro’s electrical infrastructure after cable theft caused the loss of millions of rands in the manufacturing industry.  The business community in Nelson Mandela Bay will now guard electricity substations in the metro after rampant cable theft paralysed several industries, leading to lost revenue amounting to millions of rands.   “This is a game changer for municipalities. It is an extreme thing for people to do, to use their own security guards to look after public infrastructure, but this is a very serious problem,” said Denise van Huyssteen, CEO of the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber.  The Nelson Mandela Bay metro, consisting of Gqeberha (formerly known as Port Elizabeth), Despatch and Kariega (formerly known as Uitenhage) is the Eastern Cape’s biggest metro and home to several key players in the vehicle and vehicle components manufacturing industry. It also houses the infrastructure for large citrus exports.

Read the full article at: www.dailymaverick.co.za