Street lights that have been burning in Lyttelton for more than 38 days, have left many residents highly upset. Despite reporting it to Tshwane numerous times, nothing has been done so far.
A resident, who does not want to be named, told Rekord that several members of the community have phoned the electricity department. The department has acknowledged the matter, but still no steps have been taken to address the situation.
“What concerns us is the enormous amount of electricity that has been wasted. There are so many advertisements encouraging everybody to save electricity, but Tshwane just ignores it.” Rekord went to Lyttelton on Friday and discovered that streetlights on the corner of Potgieter, Pretorius and Monument streets were on in daylight.
Contacted for comment, ward 57 Councillor Clive Napier said: “Eskom is requesting consumers to switch off unnecessary light to avoid the possibility of load shedding. The economy is under strain as a result of Eskom’s inability to meet demand. To be wasting electricity by allowing street lights to burn day and night is ludicrous.”
The excuse often given is that the day-night switches do not function properly. He said the blame must be placed squarely on the council for purchasing inferior switching equipment. “There are serious deficiencies in the council’s supply side management chain, which need to be addressed head on. Meanwhile, hard pressed residents have to pay up,” he said. Tshwane has not responded.
