Streets left in the dark
The Mayor of Newcastle, Afzul Rehman, stated in his budget speech last week that the issue of taking over streetlights was still under negotiation with Eskom.
Streetlights have been a sore issue within the community of Newcastle, as in most cases they provide an essential deterrent for criminals.
Newcastle Mayor, Afzul Rehman, explained in his budget speech last week that the issue of taking over streetlights was still under negotiation with Eskom.
“We are currently in negotiations with Eskom within the license area of our townships to take control of the street lights,” said Cllr Rehman. “Many community members have raised concerns about streetlights to our ward councillors, yet we do not have jurisdiction over this service.”
Cllr Rehman further went on to say that R2.7-million had been budgeted for the conversion of certain street lights to LED, to provide better and more cost-efficient lighting to some of the main roads.
In light of many complaints received from residents, the Newcastle Advertiser posted a photo of Amatikulu Street in Ncandu Park on Facebook, asking residents to name the streets in their suburbs that had been affected. The response was overwhelming, with the SED for Technical Services, Lindile Zincume joining in on the conversation to respond to certain comments.
He again informed residents that negotiations with Eskom were underway, however, the areas under discussion were not in the suburbs, but in the outlying regions of Newcastle.
“Thank you to the Newcastle Advertiser for this post,” he said. “Thank you to the residents for the information regarding streetlight issues. Osizweni, Madadeni and Ingagane fall under Eskom, however, we will engage with them to improve the situation. All the other areas will be attended to. All issues reported should be resolved in less than 14 days from the date they were reported.”
He continued: “A number of faults that have been reported have been addressed. Amatikulu has a cable fault which we are currently working on. Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience caused. While we do our own checks we also appreciate input from our customers.”
Later in the evening, Mr Zincume again commented saying that the street lights in Amatikulu Street had been restored.
The municipality plans to systematically take over those streetlights still under the power of Eskom, with Ingagane being the first in line. Some residents are skeptical, however, as the electrical department is struggling to keep the streets in the suburbs shining.
