City Power has responded to concerns raised about faulty streetlights on Ballyclare Drive in Bryanston, saying that cable theft, vandalism and material shortages have delayed repairs.
The outage logged under the reference number CP3451169 on February 9 remains unresolved nearly a month later.
This has prompted Ward 103 councillor Lynda Shackelford to question whether the City of Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero is doing a follow-up on the three-day turnaround time for streetlight repairs he announced as part of the service level agreement (SLA) in 2025.
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City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said the power utility acknowledges receipt of the fault logged and regrets the delay in resolution.
“A team was initially dispatched on February 10 to investigate the cause of the streetlight outage. Assessments revealed that in addition to theft and vandalism, there is a cable fault from the control circuit in the vicinity of the first streetlight pole on Ballyclare Drive, which has resulted in a loss of supply.”
Mangena added that the teams have assessed the fault, and 19 lights in the street are currently affected by the outage, and three poles are damaged beyond repair.
“Our teams conducted further assessments on March 10 to inspect the possible recurrence of theft and vandalism on Ballyclare Drive and surrounding streets. No further incidents were found or reported.”
Mangena said the utility is currently in the process of sourcing the relevant material required for repairs and the subsequent restoration of supply.
“A team will be allocated and dispatched to commence with repairs once the material is procured successfully. The matter has also been escalated to senior management for further intervention, as we are prioritising this matter and anticipate commencement of repairs shortly.”
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Mangena acknowledged that City Power has not met the three-day turnaround target for the Ballyclare Drive repair, announced by Morero in 2025.
“In the case of the fault logged on Ballyclare Drive, no, City Power has not achieved the three-day turnaround time for streetlight repairs as stipulated in the SLA announced by the Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Councillor Dada Morero.”
“This delay was primarily attributable to the unavailability of required materials, exacerbated by the ongoing challenges of theft and vandalism.
“City Power is working towards achieving full compliance with this commitment. Nevertheless, restoration times for secondary roads and residential area lighting continue to be adversely affected by the high volume of recurring theft and infrastructure vandalism incidents.”
The Sandton Chronicle reached out to the mayor’s office on March 6, asking whether the city is meeting the three-day turnaround time for repairs announced as part of the 2025 SLA. We were told to speak to the City of Johannesburg spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane.
Modingoane was contacted on March 6, 11 and 12, but no comment has been received. Updates will be provided once they become available.
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