Ford Factory Loses 720 Vehicles a Day After Pretoria Pylon Collapse

The collapse of seven pylons on the N4 highway in Pretoria on Sunday night has resulted in power outages affecting businesses and residents in parts of northern and eastern Pretoria. Among the affected businesses is the Ford plant in Silverton, which produces the new Ranger and VW Amarok. The power outage has caused the plant to lose 720 vehicles per day, with production being halted for at least one day already, and Wednesday also being lost due to the outage. It is not clear when power will be restored to the plant, causing uncertainty for Ford’s suppliers across the country who will soon run out of storage for manufactured components.

Neale Hill, president of Ford Motor Company Africa, said that the power outage is a “big blow” to the company, which recently invested almost R16 billion in the plant to ramp up production to 200,000 units per year. The plant is one of only three around the world to produce the next-generation Ford Ranger, and it also manufactures the Amarok model under contract for Volkswagen. The company runs three shifts throughout the day, making it difficult to catch up on production following the outage.

On Monday, the City of Tshwane Mayor Cilliers Brink said that criminality played a role in the collapse of at least three pylons, which are operated by the city. Eskom will assist in installing new pylons, but Brink stated that he could not give a credible timeline as to when power will be restored. The power outage will have a knock-on effect on Ford’s suppliers and the wider economy. The incident highlights the vulnerability of critical infrastructure and the importance of effective security measures to prevent vandalism and criminal activity that can disrupt essential services.