Ward 30 Councillor, Warren Burne, said streetlights are a never-ending problem for his ward. Cllr Burne stated that he recently took a drive around his ward to identify streetlights which are not operational.
Cllr Burne said in his ninth draft to the municipality he listed non-operational and faulty streetlights in every voting district.
“In the Berea West area from Bristol Road between the bridge and Nkomo Road which leads to Chesterville, I found that an entire row of poles (11, 13, 15, 17 and 19) are not working. On Essex Terrace pole 84 is not working and pole 78 and 80 have been recently fixed. On King Cetshawayo there numerous other streetlights that are out and have been for a very long time. These lights have been out for over a year now and have been reported to the municipality timelessly,” said Cllr Burne.
He added that in Koringkamer Road, poles 23 and 31 were fixed but the cables have been stolen. “Where the recent intersection was launched on M13 Essex Terrace there is no street-lighting at all and I have called for lights to be installed. On Rockdale or Jan Hofmayer Road exit pole nine is off and on Medway Road pole 19 is also out,” Cllr Burne added.
He said these are just a few of the 215 000 streetlights in eThekwini. Cllr Burne also highlighted that the major issue is that there are only 24 artisans dealing with streetlights and each artisan has one assistant.
“For over ten years eThekwini had said they do not have enough trucks for the artisans to carry out their work. After a meeting with the department heads on Friday, 3 December, the department heads pleaded with ward councillors to report these matters which
have not been resolved by the municipality to their political heads and I believe that as the DA we will be tackling the issue in council as staff cannot perform their duties without the needed resources,” said Cllr Burne.
He said that another discovery he made in the ward was that of sand mining that is continuing in the area.
“As I was driving around, checking out the streetlights, I made a shocking discovery where I saw four big trucks fully loaded with sand and what really angered me was that it was at midnight. How can people be loading trucks in a residential area at that time of the night? This has raised many concerns to some of the residents, however, others feel that it’s better the sand and trucks than more informal settlers making use of the land,” Cllr Burne added.
He said land invasion was also a major issue in his ward as approximately 600 spaces have been cleared for shacks on Piedmont Road just behind the Shell garage in Sherwood. A concerned resident and activist who has been co-ordinating the clearing of the land, Brent Wilkins, said he can confirm the issues of land invasion and said the community has managed to stop informal settlers from building on private land on Piedmont Road belonging to Mr Mansoor.
“Yes we did have invaders trying to build on private property but together with the local Community Policing Forum, Metro, eThekwini Land Invasion and the SAPS we were able to prevent them from building new shacks. The community of Piedmont came together and hired two TLBs to clear out the property so it became more visible for the community to monitor and ensure no land invasion takes place. We then contacted the owner whereby I was granted full authorisation of the property to maintain and ensure the upkeep of the property. The community wants to create a park for children to play, a jazz park and paintball area in Sherwood as there are no relaxing, safe places for families to spend time and enjoy nature,” Wilkins added.
Wilkins said there are informal settlers who are living on the land and were left to continue staying on the property as they have been there for over 15 years. “The are 42 shacks of which the property owner needs legal documents to move the informal settlers when he finds a buyer for the property,” Wilkins concluded.
Wilkins said he is calling on local businesses and community groups in the area to join in the initiative of building a fun space in the community by donating toys and play stuff. Residents who would like to make donations can contact him on 072-838-1882. Property owner, Mahomed Mansoor, confirmed that he has authorised the community to protect the property from more land invaders and that the community can do whatever they want on the property.
