Joburg’s Executive Mayor Herman Mashaba donned overalls and protective gloves and joined the City Power public lighting maintenance team to help fix a streetlight in Morningside on 26 July.
This is part of the City of Johannesburg’s efforts to address malfunctioning streetlights which have exposed residents to safety and security concerns due to cable theft, illegal connections and vehicle collisions with streetlight poles.
“As part of our programme of bringing Diphetogo (fundamental change) to the City, in the 2018/19 financial year, the City has set aside R45 million for the installation of new public lighting citywide, including in our informal settlements, as well as an additional R20 million for the repairs and maintenance of existing public lighting within the City,” the mayor said.
Last year August, MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Services Nico de Jager, announced that these new streetlight maintenance teams funded by the R15-million capital expenditure budget were deployed to repair and instal streetlights across the city.
The mayor said that over the coming weeks, City Power will tackle streetlights from Midrand to Soweto that have defects. Mashaba said they will straighten poles that have been knocked down, replacing covers that have been removed through vandalism and replacing fittings.
The entity will also replace photocells, which are essential in ensuring streetlights are on at night and off during the day.
The mayor told Randburg Sun that the focus is also on proactive maintenance of the lighting and other infrastructure networks.
“By 2021, because of the infrastructure backlog, I want our maintenance budget at 10 per cent, because of the backlog,” he said.
But he wants residents to be patient, asking for time to deal with the City’s infrastructure since ‘we cannot fix it overnight’.
The mayor added that it was essential for residents to report vandalism to streetlights, saying Metro police have become very active to deal with this.
Residents are urged to report theft and vandalism of streetlights, cable theft and vehicle collision with streetlight poles on 011 490 7911 or 011 490 7900 or 011 490 7504 or 011 490 7553 or at their nearest police station.
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