Motorists and pedestrians travelling on the busy Stanford Road between Cleary Park
and Windvogel in Gqeberha have expressed relief and joy at the completion of the
installation of 11 new solar powered high mast lights in the area by the Nelson
Mandela Bay Municipality.
The R3.5million project, which commenced in April and was recently completed, has
changed what was once a hotspot for vandalism of streetlights into a safer and
brighter area recording no vandalism case since the completion of the project to
date.
Resident Bradley Mclean said: “I feel much safer now on the road as I ride a
motorbike and it sometimes became challenging for the motorists to see. I can see
across much clearer.”
On Monday, 12 June NMBM Electricity and Energy Portfolio Head, Zanele
Sikawuti, conducted an oversite visit in the area as the Metro plans to expand the
project in other areas that continue to be negatively affected by the scourge of
vandalism and unstable power supply due to load shedding.
“This project is a first of its kind in our City, the lights are 20-meters high and
Stanford Road was chosen because this section of the road was one of the most
vandalised sections of road in the NMBM. Millions of rands has been spent over the
years replacing infrastructure in this area and within days of replacing the
infrastructure we would find the lights vandalised again. So we are very happy that it
has been about three weeks now and the lights are still standing giving our residents
a safe road to travel on especially since it gets dark early now,” said Sikawuti.
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The benefits of the new infrastructure include the zero maintenance costs of the
lights with the solar photovoltaic panels spanning a 25-year linear performance
warranty, as well as a 10-year product warranty.
“There are zero energy costs involved as the solar lights are powered by the sun so
no municipal electrical supply is required. They will not be affected by load shedding,
the lights operate autonomously from the power grid. We are calling on all
communities to work with us as we continue to play our part in providing services.
“Vandalism of service delivery infrastructure is a huge challenge in our Metro and it
needs all of us to work together and fight it. We are planning to roll the project to
other areas and we believe that if erected near clinics, schools, community centres
and other important sites, these lights will provide lighting no matter the status of the
electrical grid to enhance community safety,” added Sikawuti.
