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“ I have contacted the municipality a total of 18 times since then. “
A manager of a block of flats that borders the Toti promenade is at his wit’s end after trying unsuccessfully for two years to get the municipality to replace two floodlights.
Pete Lessing, the building manager at Strandburg flats on Beach Road, said he first informed eThekwini Municipality about the globes being fused on 15 February 2016.
Since then, the promenade and beach has been plunged into darkness after sunset, making it unsafe for locals and tourists to walk in the area. Two years ago Pete’s granddaughter and her friends were attacked for their cellphones by three youths and a woman was stabbed in the head during the ordeal.
“It is so dark on the steps without those lights on,” he said. “I have contacted the municipality a total of 18 times since then. They say they will come but they never pitch. They also told me the contractor did replace the bulbs. I have contacted ward 97 councillor, Andre Beetge a number of times and he has also contacted the municipality but there’s been no response from them.
People used to go down and walk along the promenade at night but for the past two years, they haven’t dared.”
In December 2015 only Pete’s persistence and a published article in the SUN led to the municipality repairing the same light pole when the light fittings were hanging by a wire. Two months after the repair, the bulbs fused.
The SUN sent queries to eThekwini Municipality to ask when the bulbs will be replaced, but no response was forthcoming at the time of publication.