City Power’s recent announcement of the solar streetlight maintenance project in Alexandra is more than just a move to improve night-time visibility and safety along Vincent Tshabalala Road (formerly London Road). It is a direct response to a deeper issue of rampant vandalism of public infrastructure in Alexandra and surrounding communities.

According to the utility’s spokesperson, Isaac Mangena, 120 streetlights, along a 5.5km stretch of the road from the N3 off-ramp near Alex Mall to the Grayston Drive on-ramp at the M1, are set to be replaced with solar-powered lights. Not because they are outdated, but because they have been vandalised.

Read more: City Power alarmed by transformer vandalism in Alexandra, Lombardy East

Mangena explained that the solar-powered lights are tamper-proof, and have no resale value, as opposed to the old, conventional lights, which are often targeted for their fittings, overhead cables used in illegal connections, poles, and other components.

On September 3, the utility launched an overhead low-voltage (LV) lines maintenance project, replacing old bare conductors with LV cables. Mangena noted the project’s multiple benefits, but most critically, LV cables help deter theft and vandalism due to their minimal resale value, compared to underground copper cables. “This is particularly important in Alexandra, where cable theft and vandalism are rife. In recent weeks, our teams have been inundated with outage-related queries, most of which have been caused by theft and vandalism.”

Also read: Johannesburgs electricity crisis deepens amid vandalism and overloading

The situation is especially dire in Lombardy East, where nearly 30 cases of theft and vandalism were recorded between March and the second week of August. Mangena said the attacks do not just disrupt power; they come with a heavy financial burden, especially in cases of vandalised transformers and other high-voltage equipment, which costs between R800 000 and R1.2m per unit to replace.

Now, City Power is taking a multi-pronged approach to tackle the problem. “We are working closely with SAPS, private security companies, and our internal security teams to track down the perpetrators, which may include some of our employees and contractors. Early indications point to possible involvement of internal collaborators in this scourge of theft and vandalism, which we are rounding off.”

In addition to SAPS, security teams, and solar streetlight and LV line projects, the utility is leaning on community support. “While our security teams are doing their best to combat these criminal acts, the sheer size of our network, spanning about 20 000km across Johannesburg, makes constant monitoring a challenge. That’s why we have made a call to residents, neighbourhood watch groups, street committees, and civil society formations to assist us with monitoring and safeguarding our infrastructure.”

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