Broken streetlights blamed for crime surge

Residents in Moreleta Park and the surrounding blame the lack of functional streetlights for enabling crime in the area.

They claim that for the past two years, several streets in Moreleta Park and public spaces have been dark due to non-functioning streetlights.

Residents say attempted break-ins and break-ins have increased as criminals now move around undetected, and the municipality is doing nothing about it.

Marie Gaas claimed that some streetlights have been out of service since 2023.

“We thought the new Tshwane leadership would do something about this and actually fix the streetlights since this is a long-standing issue that started in late 2023 during the past leadership’s tenure, but nothing is being done.”

Gaas explained that the streetlight issues have been reported countless times.

In Hoyt Crescent, 18 streetlights were reported to not have been working since November 2023.

Gaas said the darkness of the area and not having streetlights, especially this winter, is a safety hazard and aids criminals in terrorising communities.

“This makes even crime fighting difficult because they use the cover of darkness to move and break into people’s properties.”

Braam Steenkamp stated that, despite paying exorbitant property taxes, residents still experience streetlight issues, which pose a significant safety concern.

“Tshwane [metro] is not forthcoming regarding the streetlight issues; we do not get any feedback or response when reporting this issue.”

Lucia Venter, who has been living in Moreleta Park for 27 years, said she is extremely frustrated and annoyed with the metro.

“Their lack of service delivery, lack of communication and their non-deliverance of empty promises.”

Venter said the streetlights in her area are not working.

“We have crime that has escalated in our area, and the most recent one was an attempted break-in. We heard gunshots around 22:00.”

She said the criminals tried to break in a couple of streets down from her at 23:00. “Not to mention the rest. We are at our wits’ end. Our ward councillors, Lida Erasmus and Henning Viljoen, are trying their utmost best to assist where they possibly can, but [the] problem lies with the municipality.”

In Silverton, the CPF previously raised concerns about the lack of functional streetlights.

Sidney Gordon said the metro is currently experiencing a major challenge with streetlights that are out of service, especially during this winter, making crime prevention very hard.

“The absence of streetlights makes crime more conducive at night, which leads to house break-ins and cable theft. It is harder now as we are in winter, and it gets too dark so criminals can operate undetected.”

Gordon said the municipality is being urged to fix all streetlights for the sake of the safety of the Silverton residents as a matter of urgency.

The residents demanded that the metro make use of the new cherry picker fleet to fix the streetlights because most of the time, the city used to cite the issue of cost of hiring a cherry picker as a constraint in fixing of streetlights.

Metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said the metro is currently using makeshift internal teams to deal with public lighting.

“We are in the process of reviewing our operational model to consider insourcing streetlight maintenance teams.”

Mashigo explained that repairs were previously handled by third-party contractors.

“The contract with the external service provider has lapsed. Until a new model is in place, internal teams are filling the gap where possible,” he said.

Mashigo confirmed that the metro has received multiple complaints from various communities.

“However, once the operational model is fully reviewed and our teams are capacitated, all outstanding service requests, including those in Moreleta Park, will be addressed.”

He said there’s currently no timeline available for when lighting will be restored.

According to Mashigo, areas vulnerable to theft and vandalism are referred to the TMPD for increased visibility and patrols. This is to help deter further damage to public infrastructure.

He said the metro now has the fleet (cherry pickers in the region), but human resources are also essential.

“The review of our operational structure will determine how many additional staff members are needed.”

Deployment of the new fleet, he added, “will only begin once the review process is complete.”

Mashigo said a maintenance plan will be shared with ward councillors once it’s finalised.

That plan will detail which areas are prioritised and when.

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