The authority has embarked on a project of installing high-pressure sodium (HPS) and light-emitting diode (LED) street lights.

The project has already kicked off in Samora Machel Street and will continue to Cowen Ntuli Street next.
Currently, 30 per cent of lights have been replaced in Samora Machel Street.

Traditional street lights, typically powered by high-pressure sodium or metal halide lamps, are gradually being replaced by LED technology.

This transition offers numerous advantages, including energy efficiency, cost saving, environmental benefits and improved illumination.
Residents will be updated weekly on where the next batch of bulbs will be replaced.

The municipality is currently focusing on main routes, with residential areas earmarked next.

STLM has had a hard time keeping up with streetlight replacements due to vandalism.
High mast lights are also now being targeted.

The municipality once famed itself on having a 24-hour replacement policy, but the backlog has become so huge that there’s no time frame for replacement anymore, with vandalism also showing an upward trend.

It has resulted in the municipality urging residents to be their eyes and ears, especially during load-shedding, and report incidents as they occur.
The CBD is especially prone to vandalism of electricity infrastructure.

The CBD infrastructure vandalism has become so rife that DA councillor San-Mari Wait has called on residents to invest in metal pipes in order for the municipality to encase replacement cables to protect them from vandals.