UPDATE: Street lights remain a burning issue

The widespread issue of faulty street lights plaguing Ballito and Salt Rock continues to dominate the conversation at the local Ballito and Salt Rock neighbourhood watch meetings.

Following the recent IDP public meeting frustrated residents were relieved to hear that plans had been put in place by KwaDukuza municipality’s electrical and engineering unit to tackle the never-ending struggle to get the street lights to work.

According to the unit head, Sibusiso Jali the servicing and repairs of the street lights had been outsourced to an independent contractor who was scheduled to start the critical work at the beginning of this month.

Also read: North Coast residents demand answers on service delivery

However, it cannot be confirmed whether the contractor has started repairs and what the anticipated roll-out plan will be for the area which has total of 270 lights scheduled for repair.

Speaking on the issue recently chairperson of the Ballito Neighbourhood Watch, Candice Henderson said that they had exhausted every appropriate reporting protocol available to try and assist residents.

Despite several attempts made by the Courier, KwaDukuza municipality had not replied to our questions at the time of going to print.

We asked the residents…

“All the residents have suffered. The BNW committee did their own audit on the lights and we counted 614 light that were not working. That is 40% of the lights in the area. We had Mr Jali at our meeting last year and he committed to everyone present that they would appoint a contractor as the department was understaffed. The only time we have seen some improvement is during the annual Ballito Pro contest.”

‘The lights have become a major problem and its everywhere. The number tag that was placed on them a while back for reporting purposes was a great idea and about a year ago I felt the problem had been brought under control. However after the recent storm the two poles that were taken down have still not been removed. The lack of street lights is an issue again and also a security risk.”

“I have lived in Ballito for 20 years and in the past two years the problem with non-working street lights has become critical. I cannot understand why KDM’s budget was returned unspent as the area has many pressing issues that would have welcomed the expenditure.”

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