Nelson Mandela Bay plan to bill negligent drivers for broken traffic lights gains traction

Last week, speaking to the Democratic Alliance Caucus during its “sit-in” at Council Chambers, acting city manager Ted Pillay indicated his support for a plan, first mooted by Freedom Front Plus councillor Bill Harrington, to claim from negligent drivers or their insurance the cost of repairing traffic lights damaged in crashes. 

Earlier in September, Harrington submitted a motion to Nelson Mandela Bay council speaker Eugene Johnson, calling for urgent action to stop taxpayers from bearing the cost of repairing traffic lights damaged in accidents.

“Every month, dozens of traffic lights are damaged or destroyed across [the metro]… Each repair can cost anywhere from R30,000 to over R100,000, depending on the extent of the damage. This means the metro is spending millions of rand every year to repair infrastructure that was damaged by negligent drivers – money that should have been used to fix water leaks, potholes, upgrade services, and improve safety in communities,” Harrington’s motion reads.

‘Unacceptable’

“It is unacceptable that innocent ratepayers are footing the bill for the irresponsible actions of a few. Those found guilty of causing damage to municipal infrastructure must be held financially responsible, either personally or through their insurance companies. Taxpayers’ money must not be used to repeatedly repair the same intersections after crashes caused by drunk or reckless driving.”

He explained that for this to be effected, a new by-law should be drawn up to enable the metro to act against negligent drivers, their estates, or their insurers.

This will also require the Metro Police to submit monthly reports to the Safety and Security Committee on the number of traffic lights damaged, the causes, and progress with cost recovery.

It will also direct the metro’s Budget and Treasury Department to implement strict billing and follow-up procedures to ensure money is recovered and taxpayers are no longer burdened.

It is estimated that about a third of the metro’s traffic lights are out of order. 

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“The VF Plus (Freedom Front Plus) believes that this measure will not only save millions of rands but will also act as a deterrent to reckless and drunk driving, improving road safety for every resident of Nelson Mandela Bay,” Harrington said.

He said Pillay had endorsed the motion’s recommendations.

“It has been confirmed in writing that the current control measures will be reviewed and, where necessary, additional systems will be implemented to better protect traffic infrastructure. In addition, an investigation was launched to determine whether the recent increase in damage to traffic lights may be due to deliberate sabotage,” Harrington said.

DA Councillor John Best said that during their discussion on Thursday, Pillay had confirmed that the state of broken and malfunctioning traffic lights was a major crisis.

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Best said Pillay told them that he had instructed the traffic chief and acting Metro Police commissioner to supply him with the details of those responsible for damage to traffic lights to start the process of recovering costs from these drivers.

However, Best said, as far as he knew, not a single driver had been held accountable in the past decade for damaging traffic lights.

Meanwhile, metro communications director Sithembiso Soyaya confirmed that the contract for the repair and maintenance of traffic lights had lapsed, and the city had to start a new procurement process. The tender process closed at the end of August, but a new tender has not yet been awarded. 

Best said that in the past, traffic lights were fixed by a municipal team, and that this had resulted in a quick turnaround time of about 48 hours. DM