Traffic Lights Crisis: Vandals and thieves to blame says metro

Motorists complained that the EMPD pointsmen are nowhere to be seen near the affected spots – resulting in untrained people controlling traffic for handouts.

February 18, 2025

Fanie Mthupha 3 minutes read

Many traffic lights have not been working for weeks, causing traffic jams during peak hours.

Residents continue to struggle with hours of traffic delays as the City of Ekurhuleni is battling to restore and replace damaged traffic signals at intersections across the city.

The metro confirmed the ongoing problem, saying as of December, the city recorded over 120 reports of intersections that had traffic signals vandalised or out of service, with new incidents reported almost daily.

The city attributed the ongoing failure of traffic lights to acts of criminality, saying the majority of reported signal faults were due to road network infrastructure vandalism and cable theft.
The city did not rule out acts of sabotage and criminal syndicates suspected to be in collusion with municipal officials.

Among others in the area, the traffic lights at the intersection of Rietfontein and Rigg Street have not been working for about a week, causing traffic jams during peak hours.

Costly setbacks
Dlamini pointed out that apart from impacting travel time and slowing the economy, the costs associated with the replacement of traffic signal infrastructure and vandalism of infrastructure puts a big dent in the city’s coffers.
He said the problem has resulted in the city incurring multimillion-rand bills for repairs, and compelling it to divert money that could have otherwise been used to fund new projects aimed at making people’s lives better.

The estimated cost for replacing signal equipment at an intersection where it was stolen can amount to around R100 000, while fixing non-functioning traffic lights as a result of minor damages and technical faults may, depending on the extent of the problem, cost about R15 000.

Dlamini did not confirm how much money is required to restore all damaged traffic signals, but given the number of vandalised sites, multimillions of rand is required to repair all vandalised traffic signals.
“Traffic signal vandalism is really a destruction of the city’s property without purpose and it is out of hand and costly to the city.”

Plan of action
Mindful of not divulging information that could jeopardise the prospect of finding the people behind the attacks, Dlamini said: “The attacks on our infrastructure, including the theft of traffic lights and cable thefts, is receiving special attention from law enforcement agencies who are hard at work to identify the people behind these attacks.

“The EMPD is taking all steps possible to try to contain this trend, and security cameras have been installed by private security companies at many of the major intersections throughout the city.
“The department’s service providers are constantly doing scouting, and repairs are done continuously on an ongoing basis,” explained Dlamini.

However, because of the high costs involved, Dlamini said at some intersections where traffic signals are repeatedly targeted by criminals, sometimes vandalised within a few days after restoration, replacing became a fruitless exercise, which resulted in the city turning those intersections into four-way stops.
He pointed out that most of the intersections with severely vandalised traffic signals tend to take a bit longer to be replaced because of the processes involved, which includes investigations of criminal cases if registered.
Dlamini said the department is currently investigating the possibility of entering into agreements with private companies to supply uninterrupted energy supply to some of these intersections.

Turnaround time for repairs
The city’s turnaround time for traffic light repairs varies, taking into account the cause and extent of the damage, as well as availability of funds.

Also Read: Metro spends R120m to repair traffic lights

“In some cases it is cable theft which would then require attention from the Energy Department.
“The department always tries to repair the intersection as soon as possible, but for those intersections which are regularly vandalised alternative measures will be considered, amongst others to convert them to all-way stop controlled intersections.”

Many motorists reported severely affected intersections with traffic signals that remained out for months after they have stopped working.
Others said apart from the physical attacks on the road network infrastructure, the traffic light outages point to a general system failure resulting in technical faults that see the traffic lights being out at any given time.

Hotspots
Information gathered suggests that in Boksburg the hotspots with most vandalised sites tend to be secluded intersections, informal settlements and some townships where intersections are stripped of all the traffic signals.

Ward 32 councillor Marius des Vos said some of the intersections in Boksburg with vandalised traffic signals include the corner of Dudley Smith and Jubilee roads, Jubilee and Barry Marais roads, Middle and Rondebult roads, and corner of Milkwood and Mimosa streets.

At some of the targeted intersections there are traffic lights lying prone on the pavement or embankments, and it is believed that criminals are chopping them down to steal cables, the metal poles and whatever else they can.

Frustrated motorists, interviewed by the Boksburg Advertiser, expressed their concerns and said they spend more time in gridlocked roads, mostly when approaching the busiest intersections with dysfunctional traffic lights.
Others complained that the EMPD pointsmen are nowhere to be seen near those spots – resulting in untrained people controlling traffic for handouts.

The Boksburg Advertiser asked several motorists how the issue of non-functioning traffic lights in Ekurhuleni is affecting them.

Here is what they had to say:

Kabelo Maleho: The traffic light issue is affecting me greatly because I travel a lot for work.

Andile Mabutho: It’s just one big nightmare, not to mention that it’s dangerous. People don’t know what to do when the traffic lights aren’t working. I live in Leondale but work in Boksburg. Now I have to use alternative routes to avoid the traffic.

Phillip Strauss: The situation with the non-working traffic lights is causing significant traffic congestion, which is very frustrating.

Chantelle Top: It’s very frustrating. Motorists pretend they don’t see you, and then they just go. Sometimes you end up waiting forever.

Kurt Cruchanho: This traffic light situation is just ridiculous. No one can get anywhere because there is congestion everywhere.

On the corner of Commissioner Road and St. Dominic’s Street, the traffic lights have been vandalised, cut, and are lying on the ground.

On the corner of Rondebult and Comet Roads, the traffic lights have also been targeted by vandals, with some of the lights cut.

On the corner of Pretoria and Rondebult Roads, which carries heavy traffic due to the sinkhole, the traffic lights have been vandalised, and the poles have been left behind.