Residents of Ward 105 in Brakpan fear for their safety as non-working street lights create an ongoing threat of criminal opportunism.
This is according to the DA councillor for the ward, Stefanie Ueckermann, who told the Herald there is not a single area throughout the ward that does not have an issue with street lights.
Ward 105 consists of Dalview, Dalpark Extension One, Larrendale, Kenleaf, Rand Collieries, Denneoord, Vulcania, Sallies Village, Minnebron, Sonneveld, Sunair Park and the Carnival Industrial Park area.
Ueckermann stated a list of over 60 street light faults reported to the Department of Energy in November last year alone highlights the problem.
“This number increased in December and the list gets longer as time goes on,” she said.
“According to the City of Ekurhuleni’s service standards, the turn-around time on street light maintenance is seven days.
“The ANC coalition-led City disregarded their commitment to service delivery in the area and are not adhering to these standards.
“The DA in Ekurhuleni calls on the metro to urgently adhere to their own guidelines and service delivery mandate in the interests of ensuring the safety of the residents of Ward 105.”
In response to questions posed by the Herald, the City provided the following statistics for Brakpan street light maintenance from October 1 to January 31 this year:
• October: 236 complaints for the whole of Brakpan, 61 complaints for Ward 105.
• November: 230 complaints for the whole of Brakpan, 58 complaints for Ward 105.
• December: 140 complaints for the whole of Brakpan, 36 complaints for Ward 105.
• January: 153 complaints for the whole of Brakpan, 37 complaints for Ward 105.
“The aforementioned is data captured on the Emis software platform and represents true values for Brakpan,” said City spokesperson Zweli Dlamini.
“The pattern has been similar historically with no significant changes noted.
“Equipment vandalism, illegal connections and cable theft is consistently a contributor to street light installations malfunctioning.
“City officials conduct regular security patrols and surveillance but this is not sustainable without the residents’ contribution to safeguarding their electrical infrastructure.”
The City confirmed the turn-around time for street lights to be repaired is seven days standard.
When asked why the lights are not fixed and what the plan of action is, the City asked for details of the specific street lights and reference numbers of the reported and outstanding complaints, and stated, “The action plan should be for the community to start taking ownership and protect their infrastructure.”
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