Residents promised more lights
Maintenance of this critical infrastructure to be prioritised
The streetlight maintenance campaign will enhance the security of residents as well as improve the turn around time for repairs.
“I have asked City Power to prioritise the maintenance of this critical infrastructure,” said councillor Nico de Jager.
In a recent press release, the Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Environment and Infrastructure Service Department said, “I am happy to announce that the City Power board has adopted a plan that will see a dedicated team take to the streets on a streetlight maintenance campaign throughout the city,” he said.
According to the MMC, there are 27 000 streetlights throughout the City of Johannesburg (CoJ), and yet residents are being left in the dark too often, with a slow turnaround time for repairs.
“We also acknowledge that a significant portion of damaged streetlights – especially in the low income, high density areas – are the result of illegal power connections and vandalism,” De Jager said.
He added that an amount of R15 million has been made available in the Capital Expenditure Budget to allow the streetlight maintenance team to install new lights as well as repair existing ones.
“The 2017/ 18 maintenance budget has allocated R195 million, which will ensure that streetlights, especially around main transport routes, will be fixed faster and that the correct procedures are followed to ensure these repairs will last longer,” he said.
He assured residents that City Power will be working closely with the Department of Public Safety, as well as the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) to police and prevent such damage in the future. “For this reason, I have also committed myself to conduct additional oversight visits to ensure the plan is implemented timeously and fixing of streetlights is realistic,” the MMC said.
Residents are urged to assist with this campaign by reporting broken streetlights to City Power on 011 375 5555 as well as any illegal tampering or vandalism to streetlights to the JMPD on 011 375 5911.
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