Zainul Dawood|Published 35 minutes agoThe eThekwini Municipality’s street lighting division outlined challenges it is facing, including an insufficient budget to procure materials, a shortage of essential materials, and delays or absence of supply for critical items such as welding services, streetlight arms, spigots, and anti-climb devices.Allan Peterson, eThekwini Ward 11 councillor, received a response to the concerns he raised about streetlights at June’s council meeting.Peterson said eThekwini is grappling with an increase in non-revenue losses in electricity and water, amounting to billions annually.“We are reliably informed that there is a shortage of photoelectric control units, which detect when it is dark, leaving dozens of street lights on during the day. This is unacceptable and contributes to the municipality's operational costs,” he said. Peterson was concerned about the available stock of PEC units and when the last bulk procurement of PECs was made. He wanted to know the turnaround time and whether there were any challenges with procurement and/or the budget to remedy the situation. In response to Peterson’s street light concerns, the municipality stated that the number of defective streetlights and work orders as of May 2026 is 26,691. This figure includes duplicate entries.Due to a lack of real-time monitoring capabilities, the municipality currently possesses no data on the number of streetlights that remain active during daylight hours. Regarding maintenance resources, officials confirmed a sufficient inventory of 2,000 PECs, following the conclusion of their most recent bulk procurement cycle in the third quarter of the 2025/26 financial year.The municipality said there is no turnaround time to replace a faulty PEC. However, it explained that it takes less than an hour (including preparations such as the use of a bucket truck, removing and opening, where possible) to replace the light fitting. It explained that some light fittings come with integrated PEC, so the entire fitting must be replaced if the PEC is faulty. The PECs are replaced as and when required (it’s a run-to-failure device), but mostly during maintenance and repairs.The municipality said it has increased or supplemented its in-house teams with contractors to attend to street lighting repairs, adding that it has also implemented night patrols or night inspections to thoroughly identify faulty streetlights.According to the municipality, its maintenance strategy incorporates preventative measures. This includes a five-year inspection cycle for streetlight poles, while fittings, kiosks, and Cable Distribution Units (CDUs) undergo annual assessments. Additionally, reactive maintenance is carried out to address bulb and photocell failures or to repair damage resulting from vandalism. Peterson explained that the municipality has six regions, with each region staffed with 16 electricians (six in-house and 10 contractors) and 32 handymen to deal with street light issues. [email protected]Related Topics: