The City of Tshwane has started a two-month programme to repair streetlights and high-mast lights across several suburbs and townships.
Tshwane’s two-month streetlight repair drive aims to restore lighting in multiple suburbs, but residents say outages and faulty lights persist. Picture: iStock
There is light at the end of the dark streets for residents of the capital as the City of Tshwane carries out a streetlight repair programme over the next two months.
Mayor Nasiphi Moya announced that the city’s energy and electricity business unit has started its plan to repair streetlights and high-mast lights that will be rolled out up to October.
Repair programme rolls out across Tshwane
Moya said Wonderboom, Montana, Ramotse, Doornpoort, Annlin, Sinoville, Rooiwal, Arcadia, Atteridgeville, Lynnwood and Groenkloof have already been covered.
“A total of 127 tampers [safety features] were installed to the value of R11 million,” she added.
At the beginning of the week, Moya’s newly appointed MMC for utility services, Sam Molatelo Mashola, who replaced Frans Boshielo last month, was out with a team on the ground attending to electricity faults and repairing the streetlights in Nellmapius.
Faulty lights remain a concern
Ward 1 councillor Leon Kruyshaar said 80% of the streetlights in his ward in Pretoria West were not working.
“When there’s a power outage, the City of Tshwane team comes out to restore the power, but afterwards the streetlights don’t work. We also have a major problem with the day/night switches. The lights stay on during the day and go off at night, or they burn 24 hours a day,” Kruyshaar said.
“Even though we realise it’s wasteful, we’re just too glad to have the lights on, even if they run 24/7. When you report it, the city team comes to fix it, but usually it never works again after that,” he added.
Ward 85 councillor Jacqui Uys said Tshwane just seems unable to get its streetlights working consistently.
Uys, who has had many out-of-order or faulty streetlights reported in her ward in Pretoria East, said the city needed to ensure the streetlights were working at night.
Opposition questions Tshwane’s response
DA Tshwane mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink said in Moreleta Park, residents had resorted to lighting up their own streets because Tshwane’s streetlights aren’t working reliably.
Republican Conference of Tshwane councillor Lex Middelberg said the average turnaround time to repair a streetlight is over three years after the fault has been reported to the municipality.
He added that most broken streetlights are no longer reported to the city.
“In a functional city, all streetlights are replaced on schedule once the lamps reach the end of their expected lifespan. There is no waiting for the lights to actually fail. Tshwane was still Pretoria the last time that happened,” she added.
Middelberg said the situation will not improve in the foreseeable future if voters continue to vote for those who are proven failures in the local government.
