Despite certain politicians from the Tshwane Council claiming to be on top of things concerning service delivery in the Laudium/Erasmia area, the area still shows signs of decay and lack of service delivery in many sectors; including non-functioning streetlights to water leaks to poor service at the Laudium Cemetery.
This follows complaints from residents in the Bengal Str/Kathmandu Str area in Laudium Ext 3, complaining about non-functioning lights in their area. Many residents have complained about the poor service at the Laudium Cemetery, concerning thefts, long grass, non-functioning lights, bins not cleaned and the vagrants hanging around there despite three security guards being on duty on a 24 hours basis. Residents also complained about the closure of the second gate leading into the cemetery, especially during large funerals, thus causing huge traffic jams getting in and out of the cemetery. Ismail Essa of the Laudium Cemetery Committee, told the Laudium Sun, “We have held numerous meetings with officials from the Council, whereby we outlined our concerns, but despite promises to address them, most of the problems still remain.” Concerning the problems with the streetlights, many residents in Ext 3 have complained to the Laudium Sun about street lights being on during the day, but off during the night, which problem they say has been ongoing for years despite complaining many times to the Council.
Bengal Street resident, Mohammed Abdoola told the Laudium Sun, “The streetlights have been on during the daytime for many years, and the Council hasn’t done anything about it. We’ve been fighting with the Council and sending many emails, but we haven’t received a proper response from them. When they do eventually attend to the problem, the lights are switched off during the day, but then it is switched off during the night also. This problem has been ongoing for years and we are now too fed-up to even complain. We’re suffering due to this issue and the Council does not seem to be interested in resolving the problem, despite us reporting the problem numerous times to them. The Council is wasting ratepayers money on these lights, which should be turned off during the day, wasting electricity without concern. We as residents of Ext 3, are really tired of this lack of service delivery and once more appeal to the Council and even the Ward Councillor to attend to the problem as a matter of urgency, as the darkness on the streets at night scares residents to even sit on their balconies due to criminals hiding in the dark.”
Kathmandu Str resident, Adam Omar told the Laudium Sun, “The streetlights near us on Bengal Str are left on during the day, but the lights on our street have been out for days. The council is wasting time and money with no progress. The lights have been left on in many streets in Laudium for years, yet the Council hasn’t attended to this issue. Residents on our street are fed up of complaining about the similar problem. The Councillor must address the issue of street lights, as many areas of Laudium have lights left on during the day, while others are not working at all.”
Steen Kamp, a resident of Bengal Str told the Laudium Sun, “The streetlights in our area have been left on during the daytime for years, yet the Council refuses to fix this simple problem. Every time we contact them, we hear the same excuse: a lack of resources. We are exhausted of complaining about the same issue over and over again. This is 2025, and we need a change at the Council. Councillor Patel must address these basic needs without wasting resources. How can we trust our Councillor if he can’t even fix a small problem like this?”
Councl refused to fix a simple problem of the streetlights being left on during the day.
In response Councillor Naeem Patel told the Laudium Sun, “Some of the street lights in Laudium have been left on during the daytime for more than five years, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”
*Soon after being contacted by the Laudium Sun about the streetlights, Naeem all of a sudden posted that the Council had now received stock of day/night switches, which would resolve the problem of streetlights being switched on during the day. The Laudium Sun trusts that together with members of the community, the various community based volunteers who apparently frequently patrol the streets of Laudium and Erasmia will also make a note of which streetlights are not working properly and report same to the relevant officials of the Council, so that residents are not left in the dark at night, prone to crime. Also electricity usage can be saved during the day.