The eThekwini Municipality has installed new street lights across the Durban city.
According to the city's communications unit, the new lighting infrastructure is called LED luminaries.
"They have replaced the old high-intensity discharge luminaires. The change is part of the city's implementation of energy-saving projects. The LED luminaires offer good lumen maintenance in the sense that the amount of light produced from a luminaire when it is brand new to the amount of light output at a specific time in the future is similar," explained a municipal spokesperson.
The city said it has higher light output compared with conventional lighting technologies and is more than 50% energy-efficient.
The city added that the new infrastructure requires lower maintenance.
The city is currently working with the Specialised Multi-Disciplinary Economic Infrastructure Task Team to curb damage to and theft of economic structure.
According to Head of the Electricity Unit, Maxwell Mthembu, internal investigations were also under way to expose criminal syndicates involved in the theft of critical economic infrastructure, including copper cables, electrical conductors, transformers, scrap metals, street lights, and electrical fittings.
IOL recently reported that a random search by police of a van near the Mozambique border uncovered 52 LED street lights branded with the city’s logos at the back of a trailer.
Mthembu revealed that the value of the stolen and recovered infrastructure registered with police between April 2022 to date ranges between R100,000 and over R4 million, with 24 arrests made in relation to these crimes.
"The Municipality’s Street Lighting Department is working tirelessly to fast-track the installation of street lights when outages are reported. To ensure effective maintenance and oversight, monthly audits are conducted by maintenance inspectors from the Electricity Department’s Planning Division.
“Unfortunately, our street lighting department has been grappling with persistent challenges of infrastructure theft and vandalism, which have greatly hindered our operations," Mthembu said.
He added that the department continues to conduct repairs daily and is working tirelessly towards combating issues plaguing the city's street lighting network. Currently, over 90% of street lights in the municipality are functional. The focus is on inspection and repairs of street lights along the city centre and major highways.
IOL