Note to Editors: Please find attached English and Sesotho soundbites by Cllr Sepatala Chabalala.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Moqhaka will raise the issue of the ongoing municipal infrastructure vandalism at Council and call on the municipality to strengthen law-enforcement visibility and protection measures to safeguard public assets.
We are deeply concerned about the ongoing vandalism of infrastructure in the Moqhaka Local Municipality. These acts of vandalism occur in the suburbs, locations, and industrial sites.
Residents’ electricity cables are being stolen, municipal high-mast lights are being damaged, and public street lights are not operational, leaving most areas in darkness.
Infrastructure vandalism impacts residents, businesses, and the municipality’s coffers, as repairs are very costly, especially when the municipality often has to replace a cable or a bulb that was repaired previously.
This also tainted the DA’s efforts in Moqhaka Local Municipality on 30 May 2025, when we wrote to the Office of the Municipal Manager, Portia Tshabalala, and the Municipalities Technical Department, demanding answers regarding public lighting in the interest of the general community of Moqhaka.
The reply stated that although the municipality has contracted service providers to repair public lighting, at times, spare parts are insufficient to cover all areas affected by darkness, which residents complain about daily, as it harms their livelihoods.
We urge the municipality to ensure that its law enforcement officers are equipped with the essential resources to be effective, visible, and high on patrol, and to protect infrastructure and reduce repair costs.
The DA in Moqhaka will monitor the municipality’s progress in resolving this ongoing pandemic of vandalism, which is burdening the municipality’s coffers with repair costs.