City urges people to help them

GINA BERGMAN WRITES:

The street light opposite 22 Goodman Terrace, Fairwood, has been hit and either needs to be fixed or replaced before it causes an accident.

There are also street lights out on the corner of Kloof, 8th and Club streets in Linksfield. They have been out for months.

We have attended to and repaired all of the above-mentioned street lights which are now in working condition.

The utility encourages community assistance in reporting criminal activities happening on our street lights. The community can go to http://www.citypower.co.za.

City Power further reiterates that street lights across Joburg are fitted with daylight switches or photocells that switch the lights off during the day and turn them on when it becomes dark.

On several occasions, these photo cells have been a target of deliberate damage, which has led to the lights illuminating throughout the day and night. This allows criminal syndicates to use these circuits for illegal connections.

This rampant damage, cable theft and vandalism of timing devices on street lights is derailing ongoing efforts to save electricity and it costs City Power millions of rand every year to replace this equipment.

The theft of and damage to street lights exacerbates the power shortages we are facing as daytime illuminating street lights exert unnecessary pressure on the grid that is already constrained.

CITY POWER REPLIES: