The streetlights on Higginson Highway have not been functional for the past five years and the highway has been in darkness with no visibility at night. According to Suren Ganapathie of Woodhurst, partial repairs were done in 2019 and last year before the elections, but these repairs were not completed.
Ganapathie is the admin for the Woodhurst Crime Watch, Chatsworth Safety Alert, Chatsworth Secure, Chatsworth Lockdown and Star Street Crime Watch WhatsApp groups and has received numerous complaints from residents regarding this issue. “I have reference numbers, dating back as far as 2015, of complaints I made about streetlights. While cable theft and vandalism is common in some areas, most lights are non-functional. All role-players are fully aware but rate-paying residents have to risk their lives while driving there at night. The Electricity Department advises that residents should look after the infrastructure but who will sit for 24 hours, monitoring the streetlights? “Residents report to SAPS or post on crime watch groups when they do notice any vandalism. Cable theft and vandalism is rife in our province. What has the Electricity Department done to prevent this or to find alternative ways to curb this crime? Surely by now, measures should have been implemented to protect our streetlights. The residents are waiting with bated breath to see light on the highway,” said Ganapathie, adding that there are always talks of improving service delivery in Chatsworth but this is not happening.
“Besides the streetlights, branches are growing over two or three lanes on the highway which is a danger to motorists. “This was reported to Parks and Recreation in September 2020 and thereafter but nothing was done about it. Further, the railway line and stations throughout the highway have also been vandalised,” he said. Mat Cuthbert, DA Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, together with his team members recently conducted an inspection of the damages on Higginson Highway. “We did an oversight visit where we noticed cable theft and infrastructure vandalism. What we saw in Chatsworth was sad because people were not able to make use of public transportation in the form of trains for the last seven years. On Higginson Highway, many streetlights are out. Thieves have stolen the infrastructure and the eThekwini Council has done very little to try and protect the infrastructure. We need to take proactive measures and beef up law enforcement so we are able to protect our infrastructure,” Cuthbert said. Ward 69 Councillor, Ganas Govender, said that these issues were brought up in their caucus meetings as well.
“Non-functional streetlights come with a high risk to our community. There were many livelihoods lost due to the high number of accidents that have occurred on Higginson Highway. Just before the Covid-19 shutdown, Chatsworth councillors were assured by the municipality’s Electricity Department officials that a contractor would be put in place to replace these damaged lights for high mast lights and to date, we still await for this to be done,” said Cllr Govender. Ward 77 Councillor, Anoop Rampersad, said that it seems like the City has no interest or plans in fixing this problem. “The City has promised us in 2019 that they will install high mast lighting. To date, no such thing has happened because the money that was meant for the high mast lights was apparently stolen. In terms of the deplorable station, all law enforcement had promoted this rot by not taking action against any scrap metal dealer hence there is a market for stealing and selling,” said Cllr Rampersad. Msawakhe Mayisela, eThekwini Municipality’s spokesperson, made note that the City is spending a lot of money repairing the streetlights that are not working. “We also want to bring to the attention of the public that the people who are responsible for vandalising the streetlights are coming from our communities. We are therefore appealing to members of the public to be vigilant and to expose these rogue individuals who live within our communities.
“As communities, we also have a responsibility to protect the infrastructure, or our streets will continue to be plunged into darkness. It should be noted that the City cannot afford to put a security guard at each and every street-pole but communities have got a responsibility to protect the infrastructure the City has rolled out for its benefit. Residents can do this by reporting suspicious activity to the City or to the police,” said Mayisela. Residents can report infrastructure damage or cable theft to the City on 031-311-1111 or call SAPS on 10111.
