Nearly half of the 241,431 streetlights in the City of Tshwane are dysfunctional, with most being vandalised shortly after being repaired.
This is according to Tshwane spokesperson Lindela Mashigo, who said that repairing a streetlight is a costly exercise that requires time, resources and at times, a complete replacement of the affected streetlight or high mast light.
“The total number of non-functional streetlights is 120,625, and most of these have been vandalised. Some of these streetlights get vandalised immediately after repairs by unknown persons without any theft trace,” he said.
“In other instances, cables and conductors are stolen to provide illegal connections to nearby informal settlements.”
Mashigo said streetlights are maliciously vandalised in areas prone to cable theft to create darkness, which allows thieves to operate uninterrupted.
He said the impact of streetlights not working contributes to high levels of crime in communities and continued infrastructure vandalism in the affected areas.
“The city’s security cluster continues to put in place innovative technology to safeguard electricity infrastructure as well as security patrol services across all regions, including Mamelodi, Soshanguve, Mabopane and Pretoria North,” he said.
He added that the city was also exploring solar lighting options, particularly for high-mast lights.
DA regional leader Cillers Brink said most streetlights were stripped of the cables and an alternative solution could be solar-powered lights in some areas.
“It [solar-powered light] will cover a bigger area than a traditional streetlight and has a daylight switch, and incorporated into the unit is a battery to keep the power and the streetlight going for an extended period of time,” he said.
Joburg has also suffered similar vandalism.
Mayor Dada Morero previously said that fixing potholes across the metro could cost about R700m, while the Johannesburg Roads Agency has previously said R70m is needed to fix damaged and vandalised traffic lights.
In August this year, DA roads and logistics spokesperson Evert du Plessis said only 77 out of 196 traffic lights in the province would be fixed owing to a lack of funds, even though the provincial government had allocated an additional R80m.
“This means that less than 40% of traffic lights get repaired ... putting the lives of our residents at risk, as they will be exposed not only to more accidents but become prone to acts of crime such as hijacking and muggings,” Du Plessis said.
In March, Gauteng finance MEC Lebogang Maile allocated R9.7bn to the roads and transport department for 2025/26, which increases to R28bn over the medium-term expenditure framework.
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