/ MEDIA STATEMENT / The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

The City’s electricity teams are attending to vandalised streetlights in Seawinds and surrounds as quickly as possible. The area has been severely affected by streetlight vandalism in recent months and residents are reminded to report incidents of infrastructure damage to us by using one City service channel. Read more below:                                                                                                                

In areas across the metro, the majority of public lighting infrastructure is vandalised under the cover of load-shedding darkness. On Wednesday, 20 September 2023, Mayoral Committee Member for Energy, Councillor Beverley van Reenen visited Seawinds to have a closer look at the public lighting vandalism challenges and the repair work being carried out to damaged infrastructure.

‘We are seeing an alarming increase in theft and vandalism in areas, with Eskom’s Load-shedding playing a massive role in the increase of incidents. Criminals are taking advantage, especially during higher stages of load-shedding, and use the time to strip infrastructure for valuable copper and other material. It is frightening to see the number of incidents taking place on a monthly basis and we can assure the community that all outstanding repairs are being attended to.

‘Our teams service more than 245 000 streetlights in the metro and we are through the City’s enforcement agencies doing everything possible within our mandate, to address theft and vandalism of streetlight infrastructure in all hotspot areas.  We will continue to monitor our vandalism and theft data on a monthly basis, which is used address and clamp down on these incidents. We remind residents that single streetlights are attended to within 14 days and faults affecting multiple streetlights are attended to with 48 hours, where possible. Where delays occur due to high electricity request volumes, we ask residents to please be patient with us while our teams attend to it as quickly as possible.

‘We cannot do this alone and community support is vital in our fight against vandalism and keeping the lights on. Residents must report all suspicious activity to us so that we bring an end to vandalism related infrastructure damage,’ said Councillor Beverley van Reenen.

Help us protect our infrastructure and communities!

Community support plays a massive role in our fight against vandalism and we once again urge communities to report all incidents of vandalism and illegal connections.

Report to us

• SMS: 31220

• Email: power@capetown.gov.za

Anonymous tip-offs welcomed

Reward of R5 000 if tip-offs lead to arrests.

Call: 0800 1100 77

Issued by The City of Cape Town