Street lights out of order on the M4. Picture: Khaya Ngwenya/ANA
Durban - While the eThekwini Municipality admits that more than R91 million has been spent on street-light repairs, there has been little to no improvement in visibility on the city’s roads.
This is according to various members of community police forums, who said their streets and roads were still dark.
Street lights on some major roads from the CBD, such as the M4, also remained faulty.
Some of the street lights have been tampered with by vagrants, while others haven’t been replaced after being crashed into by cars. In some cases, street lights have been burnt.
Residents have been complaining and have pleaded with the city to attend to the repairs.
Responding to reports earlier this week that some R579 million had been spent on fixing street lights, the city said it had spent more than R91 million repairing them.
The municipality said it acknowledged the contract had been overspent, and when this had come to light an independent investigation had been instituted by the city investigation and integrity unit. Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda said the investigation was at an advanced stage and a report on the issue would be released soon.
He warned that any official found to have committed any wrongdoing would face the consequences.
While the city conceded that the tender had exceeded the original contract price of R91 million, CPFs in various parts of the city said the lighting in their streets had not improved.
Darryl Oliver, chairperson of the Durban North and uMhlanga CPF, said he had seen some street lights in the main road being repaired, but most parts of the area were still dark.
“There are many streets in Durban North, including the busy Umhlanga Rocks Drive, that have no working lights.
“This has been an issue for many years, and it’s most challenging, because criminals move freely.
”For almost eight years we have been complaining about the same thing, and we wonder which areas benefited from this massive tender,” he said.
Aidan David, chairperson of the Isipingo CPF, said more than 70 street lights around Isipingo had been faulty for the past seven years.
He said they had been told about the plan to repair them, but nothing had been done.
“In our weekly meetings, all members mention the faulty street lights in their neighbourhood. Maybe they will come to repair them, but we have not seen anything yet,” he said.
Kevin Pillay, chairperson of the Malvern CPF, said he had seen some lights being fixed around the Queensburgh town area.
“We had hoped that they would move to the residential areas, where we have been complaining about the lights. Some were hit by cars and fell down.
“Driving at night is a nightmare – the roads are not in good condition, and having the majority of the street lights out only makes the situation worse,” he said.
Rachel Wikin, chairperson of the Verulam CPF, was adamant that none of the amount budgeted for repairing street lights in her neighbourhood had been spent. She said they felt neglected by the city and there were many issues facing their community.
“Most of our street lights are faulty, and those that are working are blocked by overgrown trees and verges, which makes our roads dark.
“We read in the news that there was a tender for fixing streets lights, but we have not seen any repairs,” she said.
SUNDAY TRIBUNE