Cape's Area South continues to record high number of street light vandalism and theft

The City of Cape Town has yet again raised concerns about the number of incidents reported regarding theft and vandalism of streetlights across the metro.

According to the municipality, Area South, which includes Gugulethu, Mitchells Plain, Muizenberg and Wynberg districts continues to have a high number of service requests and a large portion of faults is caused by theft and vandalism.

PICTURE: CoCT

MMC for Energy, Xanthea Limberg says in a two week period, its teams attended to more than 7 400 streetlight-related requests. Limberg added that the City services more than 245 000 streetlights.

‘’Repeated theft and material damage to the same infrastructure in certain areas is a massive issue. Much of the time, our teams arrive at the scene to find damage so destructive that the entire grid supplying particular streetlights must be repaired or replaced. It might look like a single light, but what lies beneath is often far worse.’’

‘’Theft, vandalism and illegal connections are having an immense impact on operations. This, together with the escalated criminality and violence in many areas where we are working, has a big impact on restoration times. Much of the time our energy teams must be accompanied by law enforcement or even the South African Police Service,’’ added Limberg.

Limberg says the City has budgeted almost R79 million for street lighting and public lighting, which includes LED upgrades for the current 2024/25 financial year.

She urged communities to report any suspicious activity to the City's Public Emergency Communication Centre on 021 480 7700

 

Done By: Sihle Jezile