KANYAMAZANE – Darkness that threatens a community and brings fears that have been held by locals and still worries them of muggings persists.
A small community that has all elements most communities have both positive and negative and the usual lack of service delivery issues, not having street lights that work efficiently during the evenings, has been a cause for concern for some members of the community in Lekazi.
It has been a number of years that the street lights of some parts of this community have not been working and those that do work are not being serviced properly or at all.
Community members have been crying out about the crime that comes with the lack of proper street lights in some parts, when it is dark because there are not any lights in some streets criminals find it easy to mug anybody walking from work to their houses and sadly some feel threatened to walk however they please in the this area since it looks like thieves rule the night.
On Dragon Fly Street, there is a big street light that used to work and when it did, it gave light to vast space in the area and was bright enough people could see clearly, and the crime was not that easy to commit because they did not have the dark to hide their identities since its mostly criminals that live close by that mug people.
“Unfortunately, I was a victim of these petty crimes so they are called, but when it happens to you there is nothing petty about it. Crime is high enough in some parts of Lekazi and the fact that there are no street lights on the main streets contributes to its escalation, it has been years we have been living like this and those streets that do have working street light are not as affected as those that do not have,” said Ms Nombuso Nkosi, a concerned member of the community.
Another member of the community said: “Our government forces us to get used to things we should not and when we complain about them they make like they help but they rarely do, yes we have new roads that are still being finished, but there is a lot still short and living in this dark is scary for everybody living here.”
The community appeals to the municipality to help maintain the street lights that are not working and the ones that are working but are not operational throughout the year especially in the winter season when it gets too dark.
