City of Mbombela appeals to residents as infrastructure vandalism escalates
Stolen cables and damaged electrical boxes strain municipal budgets as officials work on a long-term transition to solar power.
The City of Mbombela (CoM) is appealing to all residents to help halt widespread electrical infrastructure vandalism across the municipality.
According to CoM spokesperson Joseph Ngala, criminals are increasingly targeting streetlight infrastructure by breaking into electrical boxes and stealing cables and circuit breakers.
“Most of our electrical infrastructure is under attack, and the situation is getting out of hand. It is a major setback for the municipality because we have to spend more money replacing stolen equipment, and those funds could have been used for other service delivery projects,” he said.
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Ngala said the municipality has invested significantly in restoring streetlights across Mbombela, but the continued vandalism is undoing that progress.
“We have opted to install solar-powered streetlights, but this is not a one-day project,” he said. “In the meantime, we repaired the existing electrically powered streetlights to ensure that our streets are not left in darkness at night. However, the ongoing vandalism is a serious concern that we urgently need to address.”
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More than 50 repaired streetlights damaged again
“The city is requesting residents to help safeguard municipal infrastructure,” Ngala said. “If they witness any illegal activity, they should immediately report it to the SAPS or the municipality’s customer care centre. Protecting public infrastructure is everyone’s responsibility.”
According to Ngala, more than 50 streetlights that were recently repaired have already been vandalised again. The municipality is also assessing the extent of the damage to several electrical boxes that have been targeted by criminals.
Ngala warned that continued vandalism not only delays service delivery but also places an unnecessary financial burden on the municipality, reducing the resources available for other community development projects.
