Stolen solar-powered street lights still not replaced
Shining more light on the importance of communities’ involvement in protecting the city’s infrastructure from vandals and thieves, the metro said: “Crime is a societal problem that requires all sectors of society to address it. The City’s funds are limited, making it not feasible to deploy guards for the lights.”
Residents in Boksburg East are at their wits’ end as the solar-powered streetlights that were stolen in the area about two years ago still have not been replaced.
Streets such as Market, Montague, Voortrekker, Claim, Kruger, Short and Station are among those allegedly affected by lighting faults, which have been blamed on theft.
According to a concerned resident, Claudia Nel, who reported the fault to the metro on numerous times, solar lights in Montague Street were stolen a month after being installed around July.
“We hardly have any street lights in our street at the moment and this is a major concern. Due to our street being very dark, our neighbours were robbed at gunpoint in May last year. If there were street lights people might have been able to see the robbers entering the street or even the premises. We don’t feel safe anymore.
“We were struggling with dysfunctional street lights even before the solar lights were stolen.
“It would be appreciated if the metro can replace or fix the street lights. I just want to feel safe again and have some lights in our street,” she explained.
Ward 32 Clr Marius de Vos is also exasperated by the situation and said he escalated it to the relevant department at the metro.
“I have written in October 2019 and on many other occasions in respect to the lack of maintenance of streetlights in the entire ward, including the disappearance of the solar streetlights in Boksburg East,” said de Vos.
The Advertiser reported in May last year that thieves are helping themselves to solar streetlights in Boksburg.
The metro then said it was aware that several solar-powered streetlights in Boksburg had been damage, and that criminals appear to be behind the vandalism and thefts.
At the time, according to metro spokesperson Themba Gadebe, the streetlights were vandalised on various occasions within a week of being repaired, saying this includes theft of solar panels, possibly for resale to unsuspecting buyers.
The Advertiser is still awaiting comment from the metro.
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