The Automobile Association of South Africa (AA) has called on every municipality to publish a list of its broken traffic lights and streetlights, with each fault carrying a reference number and a repair date.

The AA wants the most urgent repairs completed before the upcoming Local Government Elections on Wednesday 4 November and the festive season. Transport Month ends this week, but its final days still give government and councils the chance to lead before voters go to the polls, the AA said. The AA has urged municipalities to publish the list now and update it weekly.

“When a traffic light dies, the driver waits. The person on foot takes the gamble,” said Bobby Ramagwede, AA chief executive.

“Mobility is not transport. It is the freedom to get to work, get your children to school, get home again and change your circumstances. Every dead intersection takes some of that freedom away, and it takes it first from the people who walk.”

The AA is asking municipalities to fix routes to schools, polling stations and busy pedestrian corridors first.

“Theft explains a broken light. It does not excuse leaving it broken. The first step costs almost nothing: publish the list,” he said.

Fixing lights saves fuel

The government announced on 21 October that petrol would be reduced by R1.50 per litre, and diesel by R3.00 per litre.

“The levy cut is good news, but motorists will still feel it at the pump,” said Ramagwede. “The government has a second lever that has nothing to do with the oil price. A driver idling at a broken robot is paying for fuel that takes them nowhere. Fix the light and that money stays in their pocket. It is a saving government can start delivering this week, and it starts with a list.”

Safety advice for road users

Until repairs are done, the AA advises road users to treat any traffic light that is not working as a four-way stop and to take extra care at peak hours and near schools. Drivers should obey stop signs where a council has replaced a traffic light with these, and expect some drivers not to.

The AA urges road users to keep windows up and valuables out of sight at stop streets and dead intersections, where residents report more smash-and-grabs. On unlit roads, slow down and assume there is a pedestrian you cannot see.

Pedestrians should wear light-coloured or reflective clothing, carry a torch or use a phone’s light, and walk facing oncoming traffic where there is no pavement. Walk with others where possible, especially early in the morning and after dark.

Road users should report faults to their municipality and keep the reference number, and report suspicious activity around traffic signals and other infrastructure to the authorities.

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Call for employers to act

The AA is also asking employers to consider how staff travel before sunrise and after dark. Shift workers often walk to and from work in the dark. Employers can adjust shift times, organise transport or lift clubs, and log every fault on their staff’s routes, Ramagwede said.

Help at hand for voters

“We will keep pressing councils to fix the lights,” said Ramagwede. “But a voter walking home in the dark on 4 November needs help that night, not when the repair budget comes through.”

Until the lights are fixed, the AA urges voters to plan how they will get to and from their polling station and to keep help within reach. The organisation is encouraging voters to make use of AA Armed Response on the My AA app, which lets users call for armed response to wherever they are, at the press of a button.

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