Residents of several Pretoria east suburbs are growing increasingly frustrated as streetlights remain broken for years, leaving roads pitch-dark and dangerous at night.

In areas such as Brampton Avenue in Lynnwood Manor, Greenwood Crescent in Lynnwood Ridge, Die Wilgers, and Remskoen, residents say repeated service requests have brought little relief.

Frederik van der Walt, a resident affected by the outages, said the problem has dragged on for far too long.

“My house and surrounding area have not had lights for, I would say, close to about four to five years now,” he said.

He added that residents who tried to solve the problem themselves were met with crime.

“The problem is also that some residents in Remskoen have put up lights, and criminals decided to either steal them or break them down,” Van der Walt said.

According to Van der Walt, the lack of lighting has made the area unsafe for motorists and pedestrians.

He said all the tickets that get logged are closed without repairs on-site.

Another resident Leo Stander said poor lighting has worsened existing road hazards. “They close an excavation and say the work is completed. So now it’s closed, but there’s still a bump there,” he explained.

Stander said that without working streetlights, drivers only see what is directly in front of them.

He described the situation as dangerous, adding that he has reported issues for more than three to four years, and the lack of lighting has already led to accidents.

“Cars have lost control at a sharp corner and ended up in my garden. My garden is below street level, which makes it risky,” he said.

“If the streetlights worked, drivers could see better and avoid accidents.”

He added that pedestrians also use the road at night. “And without lights, it’s dangerous for them too.”

Stander added that he has provided street pole numbers and reference numbers, but nothing has been done.

Metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo confirmed that the metro is aware of the prolonged streetlight outages in the affected areas.

“Over the past three to four years, the city has attended to public lighting repairs across Region 6. However, resource constraints have affected where work is done,” said Mashigo.

Mashigo said repairs have largely prioritised arterial routes, resulting in a lower volume of interventions in residential streets than would ordinarily be ideal.

He added that repeated reports have not always led to quick repairs due to capacity limitations.

“In recent years, the city has experienced capacity and resource limitations, which have affected turnaround times,” said Mashigo.

According to Mashigo, the complaints logged by residents remain active on the metro’s system.

“Public lighting teams continue to attend to both new and outstanding complaints in Region 6, within available capacity, as part of an ongoing maintenance programme,” he said.

Mashigo added that several factors, including budgetary pressures, capacity constraints, infrastructure-related issues and incidents of vandalism and cable theft, have contributed to delays in some areas.

He explained that turnaround times differ depending on the fault.

“Some faults require specialised materials or additional civil work, which can result in longer-than-usual restoration periods,” Mashigo explained.

Addressing concerns about accountability, he said the Energy and Electricity Business Unit is responsible for public lighting maintenance and repairs.

Mashigo confirmed that ward councillors do escalate issues through formal metro channels and that these engagements are ongoing.

However, he said residents should not expect quick fixes.

“At this stage, the metro is unable to commit to specific timelines, as public lighting repairs are dependent on the availability of resources and the complexity of individual faults,” Mashigo said.

According to Mashigo, work will continue as capacity allows.

Residents are encouraged to keep reporting faults via the City’s Customer Care Centre on 012 358 9999, through their ward councillors, or online via the metro’s reporting platforms.

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