While the Tshwane Metro continues to battle ongoing cable theft and vandalism that hinder service delivery, efforts to repair and maintain streetlights across Centurion are still underway.

The MMC for Corporate and Shared Services and political head for the southern region (Region 4), Kholofelo Morodi, has assured residents that efforts to repair and maintain streetlights across Centurion are ongoing.

Morodi said the city has deployed additional artisans to respond to streetlight outages and added that the city’s teams are actively on the ground attending to faults and performing maintenance work.

Maintenance documents from Morodi’s office, shared with Rekord, show that the Electricity Department has scheduled ongoing streetlight maintenance throughout the remainder of the year, with various areas in Centurion set to be serviced in succession.

These areas include Eldoraigne, Rooihuiskraal North, Monavoni, Heuweloord, Heuwelsig, and Celtisdal, with work expected to continue into early December.

This latest update follows Morodi’s earlier commitment in August, when she told Rekord that the metro was in the process of employing more artisans to take over maintenance work previously done by external service providers, who have not been utilised since the start of the 2023/24 financial year.

“The city has a plan to augment and capacitate the internal personnel and vehicle resources. For instance, some of the purchased cherry picker trucks have been delivered to the electricity depots,” she said.

“Furthermore, the city is planning to employ more artisans to do the same work that was previously performed by service providers who have not been utilised since the beginning of the 2023/24 financial year,” she added.

At the time, Morodi also acknowledged that ongoing theft and vandalism continued to make it difficult for the metro to meet its target turnaround times.

The level of vandalism of streetlights on main roads is deep and real. Three years of almost zero budget towards streetlight repair has taken its toll.

Help protect our infrastructure by reporting any suspicious behaviour to (012) 358-7095/6. we are fixing them one by one.… pic.twitter.com/y2raRnjIWz

— Henriette Frohlich (@henriettefroh) October 15, 2025

“Theft and vandalism of the streetlights make it impossible to adhere to the approved norms and standards of repairing streetlights,” she said.

As part of a broader response to these challenges, MMC for Utility Services Frans Boshielo said the metro recognises the serious and far-reaching impact of infrastructure theft and vandalism on residents.

“These acts continue to cost the city an estimated R8-R10-million annually.”

“These crimes not only plunge communities into darkness but also accelerate the deterioration of critical equipment, leading to repeated failures and costly repairs,” said Boshielo.

He said the city records about 2 000 unplanned power outages across its seven regions each month, with the southern region being among the hardest hit.

Boshielo added that the problem has expanded beyond cables to include the theft of electrical protection equipment such as tripping batteries, network control cables, and earthing conductors at substations.

“We have intensified our efforts by increasing security patrols in high-risk areas and strengthening our collaboration with law enforcement agencies,” he said.

“These interventions are aimed at safeguarding infrastructure and ensuring that residents receive reliable services.”

Despite these interventions, local ward councillors say the rate of streetlight repairs remains slower than expected.

PR Councillor Wesley Jacobs said that while there has been some improvement in Lyttelton Manor, progress is still limited by budget constraints and vandalism.

“The repair work is improving at a very slow pace. If one vandalised streetlight can be repaired, more than 20 queries can be closed immediately because most of the complaints are repeated reports of the same fault.”

He said that Botha Avenue has seen positive progress, with all streetlights in that area repaired and no new complaints logged.

However, he warned that the broader challenge is the metro’s limited capacity.

“The amount of work required to resuscitate the streetlights needs more funding than the city can allocate,” Jacobs explained.

“Since service providers were removed and no internal teams of similar capacity were appointed, a wide gap has opened and caused major setbacks.”

He confirmed that between July 1 and November 11, Ward 57 recorded 333 streetlight faults, of which 80 were repaired and 253 remain outstanding.

Jacobs said vandalism and theft continue to impact repairs, but that faults are being addressed as the budget allows.

In Ward 69, Councillor Cindy Billson said she had seen no visible improvement over the past three months.

“There has been no visible work on the main routes or within residential areas, and most streetlights that were reported months ago remain non-functional,” she said.

Billson explained that while communities are ready to assist through Community Upliftment Projects (CUPs), the metro has not yet provided the necessary technical support or components to allow these projects to proceed.

“Communities are ready and willing to assist, but without the city’s cooperation in supplying components and confirming technical requirements, implementation cannot proceed,” she said.

She added that a clear work schedule from the city would help manage public expectations and improve transparency.

“At this stage, I cannot identify a single street in the ward where the situation is acceptable. Streetlight failures are not only caused by vandalism; many poles are damaged in car accidents, and in most cases, the infrastructure is simply not replaced,” Billson explained.

She said this leaves entire sections of roads dark and unsafe for both motorists and pedestrians.

Ward 64 Councillor Alta de Kock shared similar concerns.

“Most of the streetlights in Ward 64 are non-functioning, and I have seen no improvements from the metro in having these fixed in the last couple of months,” she said.

She said vandalism and cable theft were major contributors to outages, particularly near Rooihuiskraal Road at the N14 bridge and nearby substations.

“The Rooihuiskraal area is mostly dark at night due to cable theft. Panorama and Uitsig roads are also affected.”

De Kock said with support from the local CPFs, she had taken steps to secure vulnerable infrastructure.

“We are handling vandalism ourselves with help from the CPF to secure the boxes so that the electricity infrastructure is protected,” she explained.

However, a video shared on X by PR Councillor Henriette Frohlich on November 3rd showed visible progress on Panorama Road, where several repaired streetlights could be seen brightly lit at night, signalling some improvement in specific areas.

Visible progress being made on streetlight repair work along Panorama Road, Rooihuiskraal / The Reeds. #CenturionMatters https://t.co/Abqe6RwMJQ pic.twitter.com/OMN8GgfLy9

— Henriette Frohlich (@henriettefroh) November 3, 2025

Wierda Park resident Michelle Andrews said that while some streetlights had been repaired, vandalism often caused them to fail again soon after.

“Although some streetlights do get fixed, vandalism happens again not long after, and the area is plunged back into darkness.”

She added that Theuns van Niekerk Street was a particular hotspot where repaired lights frequently went out again.

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