Energy teams spark to attend to 8 881 streetlight-related requests between January – February

23 March 2026

Between 25 January and 25 February 2026, City Energy teams attended to 8 881 streetlight-related requests, picking up from the 6 666 in the previous review month between 26 December to 25 January as a result of an operational decision to undertake additional patrols at night by City Energy teams to log streetlight outages and repair them. The total electricity-related service requests resolved over this period was 30 070 - an increase from 22 457 over the same period.

‘Streetlight-related service requests increased from 6 666 in the previous review month of December to January to 8 881 between 25 January and 25 February. This is in part as a result of a City-wide intervention, where the Energy Directorate initiated night patrols to assess the public lighting burn rate and logged faulty streetlights, focusing on areas across the City, particularly where we experience low burn rates and under-reporting. The total electricity-related service requests resolved over this period was 30 070 or approximately 970 service requests attended to per day, an increase from a total of 22 457 overall service requests over the same period the month before.

‘Theft, vandalism, and illegal electricity connections remain the primary drivers of electricity infrastructure faults and outages. The targeting of streetlight infrastructure is particularly concerning as they are often the first visible signs of the impact of the scourge in our communities. The City’s Area East, which includes the Helderberg and Parow areas among others, continues to record the highest number of logged service requests across all regions. In response, the City’s electricity department is working closely with law enforcement authorities to strengthen coordination, accelerate work already under way to combat infrastructure theft and vandalism with smart technologies, and advocate for additional resources to address this scourge and improve service reliability in the area and the City generally.

‘The City maintains a huge network of over 245 000 streetlights. In the current financial year, R75,5 million has been budgeted for the upgrade and expansion of streetlights across the Metro. Sadly, as at January 2026, more than R44 million has already been spent on replacing damaged electrical infrastructure, including streetlights from theft, illegal connections, and vandalism,' said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Energy, Alderman Xanthea Limberg.

City Interventions

• The City has launched Protect Your Power, a first-of-its-kind campaign highlighting the impact of vandalism, theft, and illegal connections that leave communities in the dark.
• Energy Safety Team and City Law Enforcement continue to be visible in all hotspot areas.
• The City is exploring and aims to expand anti-theft and vandalism tech solutions.
• We are installing low-street-value equipment in place of copper to discourage theft and vandalism

We ask members of the public to report any suspicious behaviour to us so that we can Protect Your Power together. Electrical infrastructure is typically situated in our communities, often abutting private property. Swift reporting will enable the City to act with speed to prevent extensive damage.

Streetlight-related requests attended to per metro area:

Theft and vandalism remains the biggest driver of streetlight, and power outages

*Note: The data looks at all streetlight-related service requests closed over a particular two-week period. Data is dynamic and new requests are constantly added to the already logged requests, as well as historic service requests. The data looks only at streetlight-related requests and does not include other energy service requests attended to over the period in review.

Let’s ACT: Protect Your Power against theft, illegal connections and vandalism

• Report suspicious behaviour to the City’s Public Emergency Communication Centre: 021 480 7700
• Report illegal scrap yards to the ‘Copperheads’: 0800 222 771 (toll free, 24/7, anonymous tip-offs)

SAPS remains the lead authority in crime prevention.

Report to the City

Streetlight and electricity faults:

• Call Centre: 0860 103 089
  
• SMS: 31220
  
• WhatsApp: 060 018 1505

End

Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office