City Power employees along with officers from JMPD during their revenue collection drive on September 26. Picture: City Power media City Power will install solar-powered streetlights in Hillbrow as part of a major enforcement operation targeting illegal electricity connections at two hijacked buildings. The utility said this would offer a vandal-resistant solution to restore safety in crime-affected areas.
On Wednesday, City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said the solar streetlights represent a strategic shift in how the city addresses infrastructure vandalism in compromised areas. “In addition to removing illegal connections, we will, working with Jozi my Jozi, also be installing solar-powered streetlights to restore lighting and improve public safety in the area,” Mangena said. “These streetlight units operate independently of the electrical grid, meaning even if one pole is vandalised, the rest continue to function, unlike the conventional lights that are interconnected.” Mangena said the solar lights would provide continuous illumination during load shedding or power outages, helping to reduce crime and create safer environments at night.
This lighting solution follows a coordinated action by several City of Joburg entities at the Florence House building and the hijacked nurses home near the Hillbrow health precinct, where vandalised conventional streetlights had created conditions that enabled criminal activity. “We also noted vandalism of our streetlights around the precinct, which has created an unsafe environment, enabling criminal elements to operate freely and threatening the safety of residents, health-care workers, and patients,” Mangena said. The enforcement operation focused on facilities that have become centres for electricity theft, criminal operations, and severe environmental degradation threatening nearby healthcare services. According to Mangena, City Power teams removed illegal connection wires and cables on Tuesday, 9 December 2025, disconnecting an active streetlight pole that occupants had converted into an electrical source.
Read Full Article on The Citizen
