An advert to hire nine companies to fix Nelson Mandela Bay’s broken street lights is expected to be published on Wednesday.
This is according to electricity and energy acting executive director Tholi Biyela.
Councillors have raised concerns about prolonged street light outages, leaving communities in darkness and highlighting the urgent need for repairs as criminals take advantage.
In the first half of the 2024/2025 financial year, the municipality repaired only 118 out of 1,135 reported street light faults.
Biyela said an advert was supposed to have been published on Wednesday, but there had been a minor setback.
“It will be effective next week Wednesday, and that is the intervention we are bringing to our communities,” Biyela said.
“The contracts will be for the next three years, and the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) investigation played a major role for us to ensure we don’t find ourselves in a situation where contracts are questioned.”
DA councillor Ondela Kepe has submitted questions to acting city manager Sizwe Mvunelwa, asking what the reason for the slow repair was.
In the submission, Kepe said communities were in darkness due to the failure to repair street lights, with some remaining unfixed for more than two years.
“This prolonged inaction has created an environment where crime thrives, leaving residents vulnerable and at the mercy of criminals who operate without fear or consequence,” Kepe wrote.
“Furthermore, the persistent delays in addressing faulty street lights highlight a deeper issue of poor governance and a lack of consequence management within the city.
“The failure to take decisive action not only compromises public safety, but also erodes confidence in the municipality’s ability to deliver essential services.”
The questions asked included those about:
- Progress made in finalising a new public lighting contract;
- Details on the investigation of the cancellation of the previous contract;
- An internal investigation of the stock of faulty street lights at municipal depots; and
- Feedback on the repairs addressing the backlog of faulty street lights.
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 municipality had incurred irregular expenditure of R24m due to incorrect specifications.
The internal audit report found the city’s supply chain management processes were flawed.
During its investigation, the city’s internal audit division found there was no sufficient supply of materials needed to fulfil the contract despite the department being aware of this.
Ward 55 councillor Thanduxolo Doda said that while there were pressing service delivery issues, public lighting was a concern.
“I have 11 street lights which are not working, and the city has been aware of this since last year.
“With winter approaching in a few months, crime will escalate because of the darkness.”
Ward 13 councillor Ingrid van Wyk said the darkness of the northern areas made crime worse.
“I can just imagine the level of crime in the Helenvale and Gelvandale areas when it starts to get dark early in winter.
“We need the city to come on board in fighting against crime and fix the lights urgently.”
Ward 30 councillor Xolani Notshe said he had a list of all the street light faults he had reported.
“The darkness of our communities is a real problem and criminals thrive in such areas,” he said.
“The city needs to do something about this before the situation gets worse.”
Kepe said he would push for immediate intervention and a transparent and efficient contract for public lighting.
“While the coalition government and administration drag their feet, our residents are suffering due to increased muggings, house break-ins and violence.
“Our people are not just statistics, they deserve to feel safe in their neighbourhoods.
“Yet under this administration’s watch they have been abandoned, left as easy targets for criminals.”
The Herald
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