There are several reasons why the City of Cape Town keeps some streetlights on during the day. Picture: Ian Landsberg/African News Agency
Cape Town - The City of Cape Town has answered resident’s burning question on why some streetlights are left on during the day.
The City said that while it often leads energy efficiency efforts, there are good reasons for keeping some of the lights burning – which include deterring the theft and vandalism of streetlights and electricity infrastructure in hot-spot areas.
It explained that under normal circumstances, there would be no justification for wasting electricity, and that everyone should be doing everything possible to conserve this precious commodity.
However, there are several reasons why the City of Cape Town keeps some streetlights on during the day.
One is that the public lights of certain City-managed roads may be kept on to deter theft of electricity and vandalism of streetlight and electricity infrastructure.
Others are that streetlights can be switched on manually for maintenance purposes and to protect streetlight cables against physical damage by civil contractors.
The control mechanism that automatically switches the lights on and off can also become faulty.
“It’s understandable that our residents are concerned about instances of streetlights which are burning during the day. This can seem like a massive waste of electricity, but the City does have good reasons for doing so and the benefits of keeping them on far outweighs the benefits of switching them off,” said Mayco member for Energy and Climate Change, Phindile Maxiti.
“It’s also important for residents to remember that streetlights are very efficient and of low energy consumption. The impact of the lights burning is not as big as it might seem.
“When it comes to theft and vandalism, in particular, residents should keep in mind that the cost of keeping relatively small stretches of lights burning pales in comparison to the astronomical amounts associated with the replacement of the same length of stolen cable and vandalised equipment,” Maxiti said.
“The City is spending millions of rand each year to repair and replace vital electricity infrastructure as a result of theft and vandalism. Keeping streetlights on has repeatedly proved to be an effective deterrent as thieves rarely risk their lives by hacking into live wires.”
For instance, between July 2020 and March 2021, the City spent more than R15.5 million on repairing and replacing City electricity infrastructure damaged by vandalism, theft and illegal connections across the metro.
There has been an increase in incidents since the national Covid-19 lockdown started.
The City of Cape Town said that Area South in the metro is the most affected, and that these illegal actions affect service delivery to residents, communities and road users.
It added that help is needed from residents across Cape Town to stop the problem, and that keeping streetlights on during the day is one of the tools in the City’s arsenal.
Streetlights may also be on during the day due to a faulty control circuit.
The City said that given that customer complaints form “an important part of effective streetlight maintenance”, it is requested that customers report streetlights that are on during daytime or faulty streetlights to the City’s Fault Reporting Centre.
Customers will receive a notification number which may be used for follow-up purposes, and must always ask for a reference number and keep it at hand.