After a gecko made headlines for all the wrong reasons this week, the City of uMhlathuze has clarified the situation that led to signal malfunctions on Richards Bay’s roads.

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“While many residents attribute robot outages to load-shedding or general maintenance, a significant and unusual factor is at play: gecko ingress.

“Our coastal geography, characterised by ocean-type sandy soil, provides an ideal habitat for geckos.

“Unfortunately, these reptiles easily penetrate traffic controller cabinets, seeking the internal heat generated by sensitive electronic components. Once inside, they gravitate toward the heat-emitting flasher boards.

“This leads to a ‘short circuit’ on the electronic printed circuit boards (PCBs), causing the signals to fail. We have noted that these incidents spike during winter and after rainfall when the warmth of the controllers becomes most attractive to wildlife,” said the city in a statement on Wednesday.

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Continuing, the city assured residents that it is not sitting idle.

The Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) has been tasked with implementing several defences:

• Protective casings: Encasing PCBs on newer models to block physical access
• Silicone coating: Treating conflict monitoring cards to prevent electrical shorts.

“Despite a replacement cost of R3 500 per unit and the persistence of these tiny intruders, we are committed to finding long-term engineering solutions to keep our roads safe and our signals green,” said the city.

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