---
title: "Come clean about broken traffic lights and streetlights, AA urges municipalities"
description: "With local government elections approaching, the Automobile Association (AA) of South Africa wants municipalities to draw up lists of their broken traffic lights and streetlights."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "ROAD SAFETY"
author: "Kyran Blaauw"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/kyran-blaauw/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-10-29-come-clean-about-broken-traffic-lights-and-streetlights-aa-urges-municipalities/"
published: "2026-10-29T22:03:28"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 1733
---

# Come clean about broken traffic lights and streetlights, AA urges municipalities

> With local government elections approaching, the Automobile Association (AA) of South Africa wants municipalities to draw up lists of their broken traffic lights and streetlights.

By Kyran Blaauw · Published 30 October 2026, 00:03 SAST

## Key points
- The Automobile Association wants municipalities to publish registers of broken traffic and streetlights, complete with fault numbers and repair dates.
- With local elections looming, the AA says faulty signals and dark streets endanger pedestrians, schoolchildren and voters – while broken intersections waste motorists’ fuel and time.
- In Kariega, businessman Jevon Dyer says little has changed since he dumped broken traffic lights outside municipal offices, describing the city as a “war zone”.
- The metro’s repair efforts are dogged by vandalism, alleged procurement irregularities and stalled investigations – prompting questions about whether voters will see accountability or more empty promises.

## Content

With local government elections [days away](https://www.gov.za/news/media-statements/south-african-local-government-association-local-government-elections-27-oct), the AA is calling on municipalities across South Africa to publish registers of broken traffic lights and streetlights, complete with fault reference numbers and expected repair dates.

![Nelson Mandela Bay broken streetlights](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/7_fKfQlEZDhQ3zbv1LfV-3_VYjQ=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/Kyran-Traffic-Streetlights6_562302.jpg)

*A fallen traffic light on a traffic island in a Kariega street. Beside it, a streetlight has been vandalised and stripped of its copper cables. (Photo: Deon Ferreira)*

[AA CEO Bobby Ramagwede](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2026-10-21-hitting-home-how-a-motorist-panic-button-is-a-lifeline-for-gbv-victims/) said the appeal was part of the organisation’s broader shift towards addressing the needs of pedestrians and other vulnerable road users, rather than focusing predominantly on motorists.

[Read more

Fed-up businessman dumps broken traffic lights outside municipal offices to highlight crumbling infrastructure

July 16, 2026 ![Image](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/aJsWRka4Co8YFWnskB4Wwk0SGHc=/450x0/smart/file/attachments/orphans/Photo10_523675.jpg)](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-07-16-fed-up-businessman-dumps-broken-traffic-lights-outside-municipal-offices-to-highlight-crumbling-infrastructure/)

Ramagwede said failing traffic signals, broken streetlights and deteriorating roads were interconnected infrastructure problems that undermined safety, economic activity and people’s ability to move around.

He said the AA wanted municipalities to provide an honest account of the extent of the problem before developing plans to address it.

![Nelson Mandela Bay broken streetlights](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/_eJGdHd7WdjKSW8emw-UbJulodE=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/Kyran-Traffic-Streetlights1_534508.jpg)

*Dysfunctional traffic lights dumped outside the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality’s Customer Care Centre by Kariega businessman Jevon Dyer in July, as part of a protest. (Photo: Deon Ferreira)*

“The easiest way to get them to act, outside of calling them out, is to put an action plan in front of them and enable them,” he said. “I often assume incompetence before I assume malice. So I assumed incompetence here and thought to myself: if I was running all municipalities from a central perspective, what would I do to guide them?

“Step number one, give me a register of the sheer breadth of the problem at hand. And don’t skip, don’t try to gloss over the numbers as well, because I need raw data.”

The AA wants municipalities to prioritise repairs along routes used by schoolchildren, pedestrians and people travelling to polling stations, particularly where broken traffic lights and inadequate street lighting pose safety risks.

Ramagwede said the election period provided an opportunity for residents to scrutinise service delivery, while placing pressure on municipalities to demonstrate that they could respond to longstanding infrastructure failures.

“I’m being cheeky here. This is a timing thing, right? \[Election Day\] is around the corner,” he said.

“Governments have this acute ability of showing you how well they can actually do their job the closer they are to election time.”

He urged voters to look beyond political campaigns and consider the practical realities of getting to work, taking children to school and travelling safely after dark.

“Think deeper about the political exercise and the empty promises and manifestos. And think more towards how you’d like to experience mobility. This is your opportunity,” he said.

![Nelson Mandela Bay broken streetlights](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/7ry5mhX-wHN2sbvwzoLplsnn8ns=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/Kyran-Traffic-Streetlights5_347818.jpg)

*This traffic light in Kariega’s CBD has remained out of service after being damaged, either in a vehicle collision or by vandals stripping it for copper cables. (Photo: Deon Ferreira)*

To municipalities and the political parties running them, he added: “It’s a reminder that we’re watching you.”

Ramagwede said broken traffic lights put pedestrians at particular risk because motorists often failed to give them the right of way, despite the rules governing intersections.

“When you have signalling mechanism failure, we all kind of know as South Africans that the boss of the road is the motorist, despite the rules being very clear that the pedestrian actually gets first right of refusal because they’re the vulnerable road user,” he said.

“So when you, as a pedestrian, confront an intersection, you are playing Russian roulette with your life.”

The danger is compounded after dark, when broken streetlights make pedestrians harder for motorists to see.

“I can’t be seen because the streetlights are down, and then I’m still playing the same Russian roulette,” he said. “I could be dressed like a luminous Christmas tree, but I’m still in that situation.”

![Nelson Mandela Bay broken streetlights](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/JwXnStHokOJ_0vxis_PA6xB56m0=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/Kyran-Traffic-Streetlights8_442620.jpg)

*Streetlights along William Moffett Expressway in Gqeberha were not working on 25 June 2026, with similar outages reported across Nelson Mandela Bay. (Photo: Deon Ferreira)*

### The cost of inefficiency

Ramagwede said queues at malfunctioning intersections force motorists to spend longer in traffic, burning fuel while making little progress.

With fuel prices placing pressure on household budgets, Ramagwede said the cost of unreliable infrastructure extended beyond the immediate safety risks.

“The longer you sit in traffic because you drive a combustion engine, the more money you’re burning because the signalling mechanism doesn’t work,” he said.

He said that municipalities needed to address infrastructure failures and the administrative problems that hinder repairs, rather than repeatedly asking residents to bear the cost of inefficiency.

Ramagwede also criticised irregular tender processes and failures to appoint suitable contractors, saying these problems undermined service delivery.

“The problems are exacerbated at municipal level because of these irregular tender processes, because of the inability to appoint the right parties, or rather, because you’d rather – and I’m going to say it quite frankly – because you’d rather steal than actually deliver on the mandate,” he said.

![Nelson Mandela Bay broken streetlights](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/zPPY5_fAiXKaBoyFdkG6J72uhdw=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/Kyran-Traffic-Streetlights7_547042.jpg)

*Vandals cut open this traffic light pole to access and steal internal copper cables. *(Photo: Deon Ferreira)**

### Nelson Mandela Bay’s repair woes

The AA’s call follows persistent failures by Nelson Mandela Bay to maintain traffic lights and streetlights, amid mounting criticism over the metro’s handling of repair and installation contracts.

In July, MMC for Roads and Transport Yolisa Pali-Jongilanga said the metro could no longer justify repeatedly repairing vandalised traffic lights only for them to be targeted again within weeks, warning that the recurring expense posed a serious audit risk.

“We cannot afford to continuously repair the same traffic lights every three months due to repeated acts of vandalism,” she said. “We have been warned by the National Treasury that this will be flagged during the audit process as it will seem like we are stealing the funds for the repairs. It almost seems as though we are feeding the thieves each time we do repairs.

“These vandals are not your regular criminals; they seem coordinated. Judging from the manner they steal the cables, it looks like they are trained and know what they are doing. They know how to deal with live electricity cables. Something is fishy and needs to be investigated.”

![Nelson Mandela Bay broken streetlights](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/ujD-ar2CTdFZV37pOltfk8zfFIs=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/Kyran-Traffic-Streetlights2_514404.jpg)

*Vandals used a saw or angle grinder to cut down this traffic light before stripping it of its copper cables. (Photo: Deon Ferreira)*

The municipality’s [streetlight repair and installation project was halted](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-07-10-shocking-price-irregularities-halt-streetlight-repairs-in-nelson-mandela-bay/) amid concerns about significant price discrepancies, questionable contractor appointments and potential procurement irregularities. The electricity and energy directorate called for an independent audit.

[Separately, a Special Investigating Unit](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-08-18-nmb-metro-finally-acts-on-r35m-streetlight-scandal-but-suspensions-still-pending/)investigation into streetlight tenders implicated 21 municipal officials, with external lawyers appointed to assess possible disciplinary action and precautionary suspensions.

### ‘There’s been no reaction’

In July, fed-up resident and businessman Jevon Dyer loaded several broken traffic lights onto a trailer and dumped them outside Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality’s customer care office in Kariega in a protest. Months later, and nothing has changed, he says.

“\[Kariega\] looks like a war zone. It is terrible,” said Dyer on Thursday,

Dyer said his July protest had not produced the response he hoped for. Asked what he thought about AA’s proposal to municipalities, he said, “The first thing I thought was that they don’t need to drive around to find out how many \[traffic lights\] are broken. They know how many are working. In Uitenhage, we have three working traffic lights.”

Dyer also questioned whether a municipality-wide audit would result in further expenditure, potentially involving a tender process, when officials should already have information about which signals were functioning.

“There is no need to drive around, spend money and pay someone to waste more money and time finding out what is broken and what isn’t,” he said.

![Nelson Mandela Bay broken streetlights](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/E2TEbTJG-cYNHK9k-QrpmvOSgLw=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/Kyran-Traffic-Streetlights4_742859.jpg)

*Kariega businessman Jevon Dyer offloaded broken traffic lights in front of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality offices. (Photo: Deon Ferreira)*

He said some people had suggested that he collect and remove more broken traffic lights, but he believed that would miss the point.

“People’s reaction was that we needed to remove the rest \[of the broken traffic lights\]. But I told them that wouldn’t help. I was waiting for a reaction from the municipality. There’s been no reaction,” he said.

Ramagwede acknowledged that residents could become disillusioned when repeated complaints appeared to produce little change. But he said the AA would continue pressing municipalities to respond.

“It’s disheartening to see and hear that people are so far down the road of giving up that they’ll make comments like, ‘Oh, well, it’s just going to go into the special drawer for complaints that happens to resemble a dustbin’,” he said.

“But organisations like the AA fight the fight despite how much apathy is presented to them. So if they’ve given up, they should take some comfort in knowing that there’s someone whose mandate is to not give up, and we’ll keep pushing this.”

### What if municipalities don’t publish the lists?

Asked whether the AA could hold failing municipalities to account, Ramagwede admitted the organisation could not enforce compliance immediately, but promised continued public pressure.

“In the short run, no,” he said. “But there is an adage that says that the loudest squeaking noise gets the oil first. This is the first time we’re squeaking.

“When we have a bone to pick, trust me, we pick that bone. And we will continue to pick that bone and single out delinquent municipalities until we get something. And if we don’t get it out of municipalities, I’ll get it out of province, or I’ll get it out of national. I will make it someone’s problem.”

### ‘What roads?’

Asked to comment on the state of Nelson Mandela Bay’s roads, Ramagwede responded with scepticism: “[What roads? What roads](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-02-22-nelson-mandela-bay-potholes-waiting-for-godot-and-the-municipality/)? I’m being honest. What roads? You’ve got some roads, yes, fair.”

He compared the metro’s road conditions unfavourably with those in the Western Cape and Gauteng, arguing that a coastal region should be preparing its infrastructure for severe weather and flooding.

“Any coastal region should plan their roads for national disaster, which means that you should have the best possible roads because your maintenance programme should be such that you’re anticipating some sort of water-based disaster,” he said.

“Your roads look like you had that disaster already. That’s a concern.”

![A road repair contractor that has been carrying out work on South Union Street in Gqeberha for the past few months allegedly dumped old tar and building material on the banks of the Baakens River. (Photo: Deon Ferreira)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/dVaYsEMkw3b_rFq3n5qw0nLgP6I=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/Kyran-Kingfisher-3_980792.jpg)

*Repair work on South Union Street in Gqeberha. (Photo: Deon Ferreira)*

Sithembiso Soyaya, the municipality’s spokesperson, was approached for comment on the AA’s proposal on Wednesday afternoon but had not responded by Thursday afternoon. **DM**

[Media on Daily Maverick: "Key election issues"](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-10-29-come-clean-about-broken-traffic-lights-and-streetlights-aa-urges-municipalities/)