Johannesburg - The City of Johannesburg has bemoaned the vandalism at their traffic lights, which it says has spiralled out of control in recent months.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the city said its traffic lights are under attack as they are being vandalised and stolen, especially during load shedding periods.
The Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) recently lamented this problem, saying it is constantly being blamed for the broken traffic lights when vandalism is one of the main causes.
JRA said that this costs the city R34 million in repairs per year and that the agency manages at least 2300 signalised intersections in the city.
The agency said it is deeply concerned over the increase of vandalism and theft at its traffic lights, pole cutting, and the resultant effects on the city’s economy.
JRA said over the past four years, more than a quarter of its traffic intersections have been vandalised by criminals using power tools to do their criminality.
"Over the past 4 years, 531, or 25%, of Johannesburg’s 2028 signalled traffic intersections have been vandalised by criminals using angle grinders to cut down traffic signal poles at a replacement cost of R28.1 million."
"In the past year, this figure has increased to 172 vandalised intersections (January 2022 to January 2023), with the month of January 2023 alone reflecting theft and vandalism at 26 signalled intersections, and the hardest hit area being the inner city, which accounts for 60% of cases," the agency said.
Many other areas, including Soweto’s Chris Hani, Koma, Rand Show and Immink Roads, have been fingered as hotspots for theft and vandalism on a regular basis.
"JRA is facing an enormous battle to save the city’s roads and traffic signals from rampant theft and vandalism. Criminal syndicates are spreading their illegal activities across the entire city, stripping our traffic signals bare for any materials that can be resold at a fraction of the replacement cost, including traffic signal poles, copper cables, electrical components, and other equipment like UPS and controllers," said acting JRA CEO Louis Nel.
The Star