City attends to streetlight repairs across the metro
26 July 2023
The City’s Energy Directorate is attending to a number of streetlight repairs and streetlight infrastructure maintenance work across the metro. The City services more than 245 000 streetlights that it is responsible for. Where streetlights have been severely damaged, it is primarily caused by vandalism and theft of wiring and cabling. Residents are reminded to report incidents of infrastructure damage to us by using one City service channel.
Today, Wednesday, 26 July 2023, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Energy, Councillor Beverley van Reenen, accompanied City electricity officials while they attended to streetlight repairs in Leiden, Delft.
‘Our teams are working nonstop in attending to streetlight-related faults and repairs in the metro including in Delft. In recent months, we have seen a number in streetlight vandalism incidents, including damage to single and multiple streetlights. Often, as soon as infrastructure has been fixed, it is damaged by theft or vandalism again. It is important to remember that Delft falls within an Eskom-supply area; however, the City is responsible for the repairs and maintenance of streetlight infrastructure in the area. The City however also tries to step in where there are longstanding issues in Eskom-supplied areas in an effort to assist residents. Supply areas are determined by law.
‘The City, through its enforcement agencies, continues to do everything possible within its mandate, to address theft and vandalism of streetlight infrastructure in all hotspot areas. It also looks at using materials where possible that do not have a good second hand monetary value in an effort to reduce the theft of cables and electrical infrastructure. The City's Electricity Department also monitors data on a monthly basis and this information is used to guide our resources towards clamping down on these incidents. The City thanks residents for their ongoing support and we ask residents to report all suspicious activity to us so that we bring an end to vandalism related infrastructure damage,’ said Councillor Van Reenen.
City supplied areas vs Eskom supply
Some areas in the City of Cape Town are supplied with electricity directly by Eskom and others by the City. This is not something which is determined by the City but under national legislation. While the City values service delivery to residents, there are limits to what the City or its representatives can achieve, as Eskom is a national entity and does not fall within the control of the City. The supply areas are established under the National Electricity Regulation Act via National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) issued Distribution Licences. The Eskom distribution licence defines the Eskom supply area within the City of Cape Town and the City's distribution licence defines the City's supply area.
Report damage to municipal electrical infrastructure:
• SMS: 31220
• Email: power@capetown.gov.za
Anonymous tip-offs welcomed
Reward of R5 000 if tip offs lead to arrests.
Call: 0800 1100 77
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Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
