Faulty traffic lights: who gives a hoot?

THE “forgotten” faulty traffic lights on the busy intersection of Bellair Road and King Cetshwayo Highway (Jan Smuts) in Mayville have outraged motorists and pedestrians who use the road regularly.

Motorists said it seemed the municipality had forgotten about the traffic lights and they could not remember when exactly they had stopped working.

Two months ago, City Watch reported the matter after road users appealed to the city to fix the traffic lights. At that time the municipality told City Watch it was not aware of the matter and the relevant unit was assigned to it. Since then, however, nothing has changed.

Motorist Eugene Moodley, who is a teacher at a school on Bellair Road, said he used the road twice a day during peak hour. He said it was baffling that the city was unaware of the issue, yet he had several reference numbers for previous complaints. He said no one had explained why the traffic lights were broken or had not been repaired.

“Some drivers are impatient and don’t treat the road as fourway stop. It’s a busy road, and we’ve seen minor accidents as a result of the faulty traffic lights. We appeal to the city to attend to this matter urgently,” said Moodley.

Taxi driver Mandla Mathonsi also complained. He sustained minor injuries when his taxi was hit at the intersection two weeks ago. “It’s surprising you find metro police driving up and down here monitoring, but they won’t come to control the traffic at an intersection or get the matter resolved. There are buses, trucks and pupils using this road. Why is it not prioritised?” asked Mathonsi.

There are informal settlements and street vendors around the intersection, and during the rush hour hundreds of pedestrians pass by there, including pupils. Mike Shabangu said the spot had became dangerous for pedestrians. “Motorists don’t give pedestrians a chance to pass. Sometimes we wait here for 10 minutes to pass and I’ve witnessed people being hit by cars at this spot. We need urgent intervention,” he said.

City spokesperson Tozi Mthethwa said they had connected a cable to a different source of power. However, it was stolen. “The relevant unit is investigating new solutions to the matter. The scourge of illegal electricity connection has been an ongoing challenge.

“Several initiatives, including modifications to the infrastructure, have been taken to minimise the impact of illegal connections,” she said.