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Darkness is killing the residents of Nelson Mandela Bay

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Dear MyPE

The inability of Nelson Mandela Bay’s ANC-led Coalition of Corruption government to keep streetlights burning in some of the Metro’s most crime-ridden communities has seen residents living in fear of the sun going down and the awaiting darkness.

Last night, 22 September 2020, I conducted oversight inspections in Helenvale, Missionvale, Salt Lake and Extension 32 in Bethelsdorp and found these areas in total darkness. (see pics here, here and here)

The lack of street lighting in the gang-infested Northern Areas has led to an increase in violent crime such as murder and armed robberies, as criminals seem to act with impunity under the cover of darkness.

In certain areas streetlights went out almost three years ago and in spite of our DA councillors constantly bringing this issue to the attention of the Municipality, the plight of our people is being ignored.

Community members informed us that they live in constant fear, because when the sun goes down, the criminals come out. They not only fear for their own lives, but especially for the lives of their children.

They are not even safe in their homes as criminals, under the cover of darkness, are so brazen that they kick down doors to get to families and their belongings.

The ANC-led Coalition of Corruption government’s inability to replace streetlight bulbs, and to stop vandalism, cable theft and illegal connections, is putting the City at risk.

A perfect example of the negative impact brought about by a lack of lighting is the densely populated area of Aloes Valley in Missionvale. The area only has one high mast light, which has been out of order for three years. Aloes Valley is, therefore, dark and has become unsafe and a haven for criminals.

Contracts that have not been renewed within the electricity and energy directorate have played a massive role in contributing to the unsafe environment in our City.

These include:

  • Streetlight refurbishment;
  • Streetlight poles (concrete, steel and fibreglass);
  • Installation of steel light furniture, cable-laying and maintenance;
  • Supply and installation of 20m, 30m and 40m steel floodlights;

During the DA and its coalition partners’ tenure in government the Municipality’s electricity and energy directorate spent R35 million on an aggressive streetlight revamp project, but under the current incapable government all of this has fallen by the wayside.

I will be instructing DA councillors to raise this at the next MPAC meeting in order to ensure that the City is forced to embark on emergency procurement processes to speedily address this issue.

The DA will fight to keep the lights on in NMB and ensure safe communities.

We can fix this mess – we have done it before and we can do it again.

Together we can move Nelson Mandela Bay forward again.

Regards

Cllr Nqaba Bhanga
DA Eastern Cape Provincial Leader and NMB Mayoral Candidate

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This author is a 'catch-all' for occasional articles and letters written to MyPE. The Author of each article can be found in the signature at the bottom of each individual article.