Faded signs and broken street lights

Metro Matters received a complaint from a reader about faded street names as well as street lamps that were not in working in  Fifth Avenue, Newton Park.

Newton Park resident Sonja Barker wrote that over the years, the street signs on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Bruce Street had faded and that the problem had been reported to the municipality several times, without any result.

Metro Matters quizzed ward 7 councillor John Best on the matter.

Are you aware of the situation?

Yes, and painting of the street signs is ongoing in parts of the ward.

What efforts have you made to address the situation?

Earlier this week I met with officials from the department of roads and transport to address the issue of road markings in the ward, which is a problem all over in the ward.

We have numerous street lights that are not working but there is a process that needs to be followed and the residents must report the street lights to the 041-506-5595 number.

The residents will get a reference number which they must e-mail to my office at ward7@mandelametro.gov.za. We follow up on residents’ complaints on a weekly basis. Last month we did more than 500 queries just on outstanding municipal issues with the different directorates.

Is there a budget to fix the problems in the ward?

There is an operational budget that comes from roads and transport. Painting of street signs is not allocated in the ward-based budget for my ward but painting has started taking place.

Is this a recurring problem?

Street lights are a problem all over, they do not last forever. The signs that need to be painted are an ongoing process.