Broken street lights breed crime on Riverside Road

RIVERSIDE Road has become a playground for criminals as the road is plunged into darkness with not a single street light working.

Umgeni Park resident, Yezdi Phiroz said the issue has been ongoing for about a year.

“Residents are concerned about safety and security because criminals work under the cover of darkness. We are also concerned about vagrants who sleep in the bush,” he said.

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Siphiwe Rakgabale, a tour guide who works in the area for, said pedestrians are at risk using the road after dark. What’s more, Rakgabale struggles to see where he is going when he cycles home.

“Employees who walk to work along the road are having a hard time walking in the dark. Usually I finish work at 7pm, so when I am cycling I have to wait for a car to come past and cycle quickly while the driver goes past with their headlights on,” he said.

Ward 36 councillor, Shontel de Boer said: “I have been inundated with complaints about street lights, especially on Riverside Road, because of the condition of the road with the river on one side and residential complexes on the other side. A lot of the complaints are about crime. Because it’s dark, residents can’t see and criminals are climbing over their fences and stealing off their properties. We have had quite a few incidents of burglary and robberies. Residents are saying it’s like a playground for criminals because it’s so dark.”

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While the lights were fixed briefly in December, De Boer said the repairs were short lived.

“The department came and fixed some of the lights. I drove through and was quite excited to see that Riverside Road was lit, up until the end of the bird park, but then it was completely dark from the end of the bird park up until Browns Drift Road. After the Riverside Bridge there were about five lights working before it was dark again. It didn’t last very long- it was about a week before the lights were off again. Riverside Road is now completely pitch dark again, there’s not a single light working,” she said.

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