Safety a concern, as close to 7 000 faulty streetlights leave Centurion streets dark

The Tshwane metro says it is working to address the problem of some 6 900 streetlights that have been reported faulty across Centurion as residents say that they are worried for their safety on the road when it gets dark.

In some areas, streetlights have not worked for several years, and residents have taken matters into their own hands to protect themselves.

Graham Jones, manager at the Cornwall Hill Estate, said that Nellmapius Road from Irene to the R21 highway had been a years-long battle.

“From Irene and all the way to the highway, there are no lights.

This is an issue from a public safety, driving, and a crime perspective,” said Jones.

The portion of the road has become notoriously dangerous, with a sharp bend in the road and several incidents of crime or accidents reported along the route after dark.

“I would never think of walking there, and those pedestrians and cyclists that do are at risk.

We have had robberies at the substation, we have had some car accidents and even a death on the corner,” Jones said.

“We also had a pedestrian in the evening who was hit by a truck and was badly hurt.

Staff coming to and from work have been mugged along this road,” he added.

Jones said that a substation along the route had no lights, and had been the target of cable theft several times.

“We as an estate, neighbouring estates, shopping centres and business parks are looking to sponsor cameras to monitor these sites.

If that gets attacked, then we are all left in the dark.”

The estate has implemented other additional measures to secure the perimeter and is working with other estates and businesses in the area to combat the crime.

“There has also been dumping along the road in the middle of the night. Lights will not get rid of this activity, but if they worked, then perhaps someone would see it happen and would be able to report it.”

Following the safety concerns along the road, Cornwall Hill Estate also implemented a Safe Stop initiative, where motorists can safely stop at the entrance to the estate at night in case of emergencies.

“I would hope that the city looked to newer technologies to get to a solution to this problem.”

ALSO READ: Man (31) gets life in jail for raping stepdaughter (6)

Ward 65 councillor Gert Visser said that the issue was a city-wide problem.

In the southeast of Centurion, the R55 has been a frequent target of cable theft and vandalism of the streetlights along the road.

In Rooihuiskraal towards Pretoria, parts of the Old Johannesburg R101 road have not had lights for some time, while residents in Valhalla and Eldoraigne worry that they are left vulnerable to crime as residential streetlights go unrepaired.

The Old Jhb (R101) and R55 roads are provincial roads, which should be maintained by the Gauteng Roads Department, however reports have fallen on deaf ears.

Metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said that work had begun to address the metro’s backlog of streetlight complaints in the area.

“Centurion started to repair the streetlights from the Zwartkop Airforce base towards the Bronberrik area, however, the programme is yet to be completed,” said Mashigo.

“The R55 could not be addressed, since Region 4 does not have the equipment to do the maintenance of these high mast lights – which remains the responsibility of the Gauteng province.”

He said that Region 4 had restructured its operations to address the streetlights.

“The region has a dedicated team that deals with streetlights. It focuses on streetlight maintenance and repairs.”

The team consists of two qualified artisans who focus on single outages and complaints, a special workman who focuses only on streetlight control gear, and two electricians whose focus is cable faults, vandalism and major repairs.

“The city’s Region 4 has a major backlog of about 6 900 faulty streetlights at this moment. The city is dedicated to implementing a catch-up plan to reduce the said backlog,” Mashigo said.

In an attempt to combat vandalism, Mashigo said that the metro, in conjunction with the community, was undertaking a pilot project to Lyttelton to install solar streetlights.

ALSO READ: Pretoria CBD building suffers blaze, amid 3-day water outage

Do you have more information about the story?

Please send us an email to bennittb@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.

For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East

For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram