Street light repairs in the pipeline

The new financial year will see the Polokwane Municipality embarking on a major street light repair programme.

Residents have in recent weeks taken to social media to bemoan the fact that in some areas, street lights are on during daytime, while other areas are enveloped in darkness because of faulty lights.

Thipa Selela, the municipality’s spokesperson, explained that lights that are on during the day can be ascribed to faulty control circuits or damage.

“Furthermore, cable theft and the theft of street light infrastructure are the main reason behind faulty street lights. This is, unfortunately, something the municipality is battling with. The lights get repaired today, only to get stolen later.”

He explain that when a matter is reported, the incident is listed on a repair list if the fault can’t be repaired immediately. The turnaround time depends on the problem, he said.

“We are preparing the streetlights. The backlog is currently just more than what we can handle. We are increasing our streetlight maintenance teams, but this is a costly and time-consuming exercise. We are procuring more ‘cherry-pickers’, the bucket trucks with which streetlights are repaired. Whilst we are busy with that, our efforts are supplemented by the use of contractors. To complement the current intervention, the municipality will embark on a major street lights repairs programme from the beginning of the new financial year.”

To report faulty streetlights, call the Electrical Call Centre at (015) 290 2490 or send a WhatsApp to 083 824 9886.

The theft of cables and infrastructure remains a problem.