Service delivery in the Laudium/Erasmia area still remains poor, despite numerous posts by the local Councillors in the area that the Tshwane Council is active in tackling service delivery.
Posts such as that the Council is attending to all faulty or non-functioning streetlights and prioritizing the repair of water leaks in the Laudium/Erasmia area, are seen by many residents as ‘another fake promise’ made by the Council. This follows a number of residents of Ward 61 who are still complaining about streetlights that do not function at night. Amongst those who are complaining are residents living on Liesching Street in Erasmia, who say that the non-functioning streetlights have become more than just an inconvenience, it’s a safety hazard. The darkened streets, stretching into years for some, have left the community grappling with frustration and fear of crime. Residents shared their concerns, painting a hopeless situation of poor service delivery in an area, overshadowed by neglect.
Shameela Simura (36) and her husband, Widson Mudadi (43), of Liesching Street. who have been living in the area for over a year, say that from the moment they moved in, they found themselves in constant darkness. Shameela added, “The streetlights were already off at night when we moved in and they haven’t worked since. We are scared to even drive out at night as it’s completely dark outside and one never knows if criminals are hiding in the vicinity to pounce on us, should we leave or arrive at night. But honestly, we haven’t reported the non-functioning streetlights as we assumed that the Council officials or the security patrollers who should have noticed this, must have reported it.”
But not everyone has remained silent.
Jayashree Gajoo, a widow who has called Liesching Street home for over three decades, revealed a grim reality – the streetlights have been off for nearly three years, she said. Despite her efforts to report the issue and send emails to the relevant authorities, nothing has been done to attend to the problem. Jayashree added, “We have experienced crime first-hand because of this darkness on our street. Two years ago our motorbike was stolen from our yard and I believe that the darkness on the street made it easy for the criminals to hide. We’re even more vulnerable because we face the bush and the new precast security walling has missing pillars from where the thieves are getting through to mug us. It’s not just dangerous at night it’s unsafe even during the day,” complained Jayashree.
For ‘Sky’ Nada and her mother Julie, who live in their uncle’s house on Liesching Street, the situation is even more complex. In addition to the streetlights being off, they are involved in a bitter family dispute over unpaid bills. “Our uncle switched off the electricity to the house because we refused to pay the arrears account, as we did not consume that electricity,” Sky explained. “The case is now in court, so we can’t report the streetlight issue either, because the Council wants our house electricity account number when reporting the faulty streetlights. Living here is unbearable. It feels like we’re in constant survival mode. Thieves are always lurking about, just waiting to rob us.”
With no end in sight, Liesching Street’s residents are left wondering: ‘How long will they have to wait for light to return—not just to their streets, but to their lives?’
The Laudium Sun reached out to Ward Councillor Naeem Patel for comment, who said ”Streetlights have long been a significant challenge for the City of Tshwane. Unfortunately, many streetlights have been in disrepair since 2019, due to years of neglect and financial constraints. Despite my repeated efforts to address this issue with the Council over the past three years, progress has been slow. However, I’m pleased to report that the new Mayor has prioritized streetlight repairs. We’ve made some progress in fixing streetlights in our Ward, but it will take time to restore all of them. Every report of a faulty streetlight has been escalated to the relevant department for repair. For the first time, we have a dedicated streetlight team for our region, which should improve response times. One persistent issue is that repaired streetlights often malfunction again after a power outage. We’ve requested the Council to investigate and implement a lasting solution to this problem.”