Westenburg in darkness
'Our streets are pitch dark at night since the high mast lights have not been working. There are a lot of burglaries in Westenburg and with our streets not having lights, we are easy targets' resident
POLOKWANE – For more than two months some parts of Westenburg have been in the dark, because of two broken high mast lights.
Verveen, Kennedy, Buys, Southon and Anderson Street do not have streetlights and residents depend on the high mast lights in Buys and Southon Street.
“Our streets are pitch dark at night since the high mast lights have not been working. There are a lot of burglaries in Westenburg and with our streets not having lights, we are easy targets. It has been more than two months that these high mast lights are not working,” a resident who lives in Verveen Street, said.
A couple who live in Southon Street said they could not go for their evening walks since the high mast lights had stopped working almost three months ago because it was too dark. “To keep fit and healthy we used to walk around the block every evening but now we can’t anymore because we are afraid someone might attack us in the dark,” the couple said.
A resident from Coverdale Street said it was not just the high mast lights that were not working but also the streetlights in Coverdale Street.
“We have reported the matter to the municipality, but they are doing nothing about the problem. “It is almost as if the municipality does not care about Westenburg residents and their complaints,” the residents said. A municipal spokesperson, Tidimalo Chuene, said the municipality remained committed to ensuring that high mast lights and streetlights were in working condition.
As promised, the high mast light in Buys Street was repaired by last Wednesday but the one in Southon Street was still not working. Chuene also said the repair of the streetlights in Coverdale Street were “in the pipeline”.
Residents can report broken high mast lights and streetlights to the municipality at (015) 290 2490.
