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Gauteng's roads department announced their private partnership initiative at the end of 2024 to protect traffic light in the province.
Image for illustrative purposes. Picture: Neil McCartney
The traffic lights at Johannesburg’s intersections are steadily returning to service.
In recent weeks, a partnership between the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport (GDRT) and the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) has seen positive results.
The two entities signed an agreement in February and have been aided by private entities in securing the infrastructure along main routes through a fledgling collaboration.
JRA and GDRT agreement
The agreement between JRA and GDRT saw the department hand over aspects of provincial road maintenance responsibilities to the municipal entity.
For the first time in months, several signalised intersections that had been reduced to chaotic four-way stops have seen functioning lights.
ALSO READ: JRA to take over province’s role in fixing traffic lights in Joburg
In addition to rebuilding vandalised intersections, JRA has added CCTV cameras with built-in intelligence analytics, thick bollards at the bases of poles, and concrete slabs around critical infrastructure.
“Traffic signals along key arterial routes have been prioritised, and we are encouraged by the easing of congestion,” said JRA Chief Executive Officer, Zweli Nyathi
The agreement between JRA and the department is valid for one year with an option for an extension.
Private collaborations
The restoration blitz is aimed at critical intersections that have repeatedly been vandalised, despite JRA and provincial department pleas for the public to safeguard the infrastructure.
Stepping up to protect the traffic lights are private entities made up predominantly of community groups and residents’ associations (RA) across the province.
ALSO READ: Private sector asked to ‘adopt’ Gauteng traffic lights
For several years, these groups had urged departments to grant them greater involvement in maintaining their immediate surroundings. This request became a reality in the latter half of 2024 by implementing a private partnership.
The partnership, which runs parallel with the GDRT and JRA restoration efforts, allows government entities to rely on the resources, knowledge, and urgency of community groups.
From Pretoria to Ekurhuleni and across Johannesburg, the tenacity of a wide web of private citizens has made the project a reality.
Interim ‘band-aids’
One node in the vast network of role players is a small RA in the corner of a north-western suburb of Johannesburg.
Aided by RAs, residents and service providers from neighbouring suburbs, the group have kept the intersection of Beyers Naude Drive and Blueberry Street in working order.
Vice chairman of the Sundowner Ext. 7 Residents’ Association, Deon van Niekerk relays how the intersection was repaired last week and was into its eighth day of full-time service as of 13 March.
While the traffic lights at the intersection have been repaired regularly, Van Niekerk stated they would go no more than two hours before being tampered with.
The control boxes containing the fuses, wiring, and control boards are the primary targets of vandals, and the RAs have secured these with security brackets similar to those used to secure mini-substations.
“I call it a band-aid. We just secure the control box in the interim. It’s a band aid but it is working,” said Van Niekerk told The Citizen.
Private innovations
Funding has been a stumbling block for provincial and municipal departments, with JRA recently claiming it would cost R70 million to address the traffic light repair backlog in their regions.
To overcome this, the RAs have themselves paid for the “band-aids” used to keep vandals at bay.
In Van Niekerk’s example, businesses from the Blueberry Shopping Centre serviced by the intersection contributed to the interim security measures.
Not all the i’s have been dotted, nor the all the t’s crossed, and community groups were told at a site visit on Thursday that they need a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with GDRT to expand their influence.
Increased security measures include moving the control boxes away from intersections and onto the properties of nearby businesses where they could be privately guarded.
Speed of installation key
The community groups obtain permission letters from the department for every intersection and have security brackets ready for installation at key points still awaiting approval.
“My concern is that the repairs move faster than the security can be installed and there is then a gap between repair and security installation where the vandals can access the control boxes,” stated Van Niekerk following the site inspection.
While the private groups work to establish formal frameworks, Gauteng MEC for Roads and Transport Kedibone Diale-Tlabela appealed to the goodwill of the greater community.
“We plead to communities to immediately report any suspicious acts of vandalism or theft of traffic signals to law enforcement agencies for action,” stated the MEC.
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