Shadows have brought fear upon residents of Ingagane.
With streetlights toppled in many areas of the village, some residents believe the steady crawl of crime is simply inevitable.
They also fear lives of Ingagane dwellers is at stake.
A resident approached the Newcastle Advertiser anonymously earlier this month, providing information and photographs as evidence of decaying electrical infrastructure in the village.
These concerns were also communicated to the municipality.
Images showed street lights which lay on the verges and in the streets, and residents claimed these lights hadn’t worked for as long as four years in any event.
Near some road signs and lights, holes have been dug.
The resident expressed concern for the children of Ingagane, and believed it was inevitable one of them fall into a hole or touch a live wire.
“We here at Ingagane are now fed up. They [the municipality] made so many promises and nothing happens. How long do we still have to wait?” she fumed.
Dr Dumisani Thabethe (Customer Relations Manager – Newcastle Municipality) provided written reply last week to the concerns raised by the resident.
He confirmed the municipality was responsible for the village’s street lights.
Dr Thabethe said repairs were ideally conducted according to a weekly schedule, yet staff shortages meant this wasn’t always the case.
“The number of staff compared to the size of the network and the number of complaints is grossly negative,” his response read.
In addition, he stated the Ingagane network structure was inherited from Eskom and was already ageing at that time.
Complaints could be directed to the Call Centre on 086 0144 4144.
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In terms of reported holes, Dr Thabethe said these were dug with the intention of replacing street lights in future.
“According to our knowledge, there should be danger tape around the holes unless [it was] removed.”
The response concluded with a reaffirming of the effects staff shortage had played, but officials said ‘measures’ would rectify the problem.
It was also seeking alternatives to avert such situations in future.
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