A team of Nelson Mandela Bay municipal officials is refusing to repair broken street lights in parts of the city after being threatened, allegedly by SMME owners demanding that they stop the work due to the absence of a contract.
A tender to appoint nine contractors for the installation and maintenance of street lights was advertised in March.
The bid deadline closes on May 8.
While there is no contract in place, municipal officials are allowed to carry out maintenance.
Councillors have raised concerns that some communities are in darkness and emphasised the need to repair the street lights before winter.
Electricity and energy political head Ziyanda Mnqokoyi revealed the threats, saying the city was under siege from external forces.
“Every time we try to fix broken street lights, in a week or so they would be vandalised again.
“We don’t know if the SMMEs are part of this,” Mnqokoyi said.
“The metro decided to start repairing the street lights again while the tender process was under way.
“But officials are being threatened by people who claim to be SMMEs, and they’ve had to stop working for their safety.”
Mnqokoyi described two of the most recent incidents.
A team was threatened while working on Stanford Road about two weeks ago, and again this week.
The team was approached by a group of people who questioned them about the work when the tender had not been finalised.
In another incident, the team’s supervisor received a call from an unidentified man who said he could see they were working, and that they must stop doing the job of SMMEs.
“The people seem to have inside information because they were saying things that only officials would know,” Mnqokoyi said.
“In one of the incidents, they said they’re aware that most of the bucket trucks are out of service and how it was possible [that] the team — which are the city’s employees, by the way — were doing the work.
“The city is being controlled by external people. We are forced to fold our arms.”
The metro is battling with a shortage of operational bucket and crane trucks with most standing idle waiting to be serviced, while some need to be scrapped.
Mnqokoyi said the situation was unfortunate because the municipality was trying to repair street lights before winter to quell residents’ and councillors’ complaints about the lack of lighting contributing to crime.
“At this point we don’t know if these SMMEs are linked to the investigation regarding the cancelled street lights tender.
“Maybe they want to ensure they get contracts once the tender is finalised,” Mnqokoyi said.
“They know the officials’ every move, it’s as if they are following them around.
“We had advised that cases be opened with police, but the officials are too scared that even that will attract more trouble for them and risk their lives.”
Municipal spokesperson Sithembiso Soyaya said officials were aware of the threats.
“We view these incidents in a very serious light as they directly compromise service delivery and public safety, particularly ahead of the winter season, when reliable lighting is critical for both pedestrian and motorist safety.
“The municipality is actively engaging law enforcement and community safety stakeholders to ensure that all technical teams are able to carry out their duties without intimidation or disruption.
“Going forward, escorts will be co-ordinated for teams working in identified high-risk areas to ensure that operations continue uninterrupted.”
Soyaya said the city was also engaging relevant stakeholders, including SMME representatives, to address the concerns through lawful and structured platforms, adding that the city was committed to meeting its street light repair targets before winter and that the safety of its teams was paramount.
Former acting city manager Mandla George cancelled a tender for the remodelling and maintenance of high-mast street lights in 2024.
Meanwhile, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) is probing a multimillion-rand LED street light tender awarded by the municipality four years ago.
The tender forms part of a report by the city’s internal audit and risk assessment unit, which found the metro had incurred irregular expenditure of R24m due to incorrect specifications.
The internal audit report found the city’s supply chain management processes were flawed.
The Herald
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