Story audio is generated using AI
The controversy around a leased R25m municipal transformer has now landed in the Gqeberha high court, posing troubling questions about governance, accountability and public trust.
At the centre of the row is a huge 132/22 kV, 63MVA transformer vital to Nelson Mandela Bay’s power network.
In September 2025, it was removed from the Sonop substation and transported under a lease to the private company Coega Steels after its own transformer failed.
The municipality now wants the lease set aside, arguing it never carried out a formal risk assessment to evaluate the potential impact on the metro’s electricity network before agreeing to remove the transformer.
A vital mistake, if there ever was one.
Worse, the insurance policy attached to the lease covered just three of the 12 months that the municipality’s asset would be off site.
Whether this was bureaucratic bungling or something more negligent, the optics are grim.
The last thing Nelson Mandela Bay residents need is a power tussle between the municipality and a steel plant.
That the dispute is now in court underscores how badly things have unravelled.
Mayor Babalwa Lobishe is also facing mounting pressure, with critics within her own party calling for her to take special leave while the matter is investigated by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks).
The calls stem from concerns that the municipality’s council may have been sidelined in the decision-making process, raising questions about governance procedures and the management of public assets.
A transformer is not just another line item in an asset register.
It is insurance against darkness and economic disruption. It was bought for a reason.
When governance systems allow such a critical piece of infrastructure to be leased out without clear oversight and documented safeguards, the issue is no longer an administrative error.
It becomes a question of judgment.
The municipality’s application now places the matter in the hands of the judiciary.
That process will determine the legality of the lease and whether proper procedures were followed.
Yet the fact that a court must untangle what should have been a straightforward administrative decision is telling.
- Follow The Herald WhatsApp channel today and stay connected to the stories shaping our world.
The Herald
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.