Non-profit keeping the streetlights on in South Africa’s richest city

Jozi my Jozi (JmJ) has been installing solar-powered streetlights in Johannesburg on its own dime as infrastructure upkeep in the ironically named City of Gold remains in the doldrums.

JmJ is a non-profit organisation working alongside corporate partners, individuals, the City of Johannesburg, and Provincial Government to make a meaningful difference in the country’s richest metro.

Through its “Light up Jozi” campaign, the entity installed 650 solar lights across Joburg in 2024 in an effort to increase safety for its inhabitants.

It targeted walkways and streets that are frequented by pedestrians who use them to get to and from work, particularly in the early morning and late evenings.

The non-profit intends to continue this initiative in 2025 with a focus on the inner-city, and it has even gotten local government to commit to installing around 1,800 of its own streetlights.

“We will continue on our campaign to make sure Jozi is lit up and safer going forward,” Innocent Mabusela, head of stakeholder relations and communications at JmJ, told 702.

Getting involved

The City of Johannesburg highlighted that it continues to battle thieves and vandals who are hellbent on damaging and stealing infrastructure for personal gain.

Authorities have identified roughly 400 non-functional traffic signals most of which are out of order due to theft, vandalism, and car accidents.

As a result, the metro is spending some R12 billion a year on servicing and repairing vandalised and stolen infrastructure, an expense it can no longer afford.

Instead of chastising the City, initiatives such as JmJ seek to lighten its load by getting the people who live there to contribute to maintenance and repair efforts, either financially or physically.

“The reality is that people who are using these streets are our parents, our siblings, our family members, our friends, our colleagues; and in our quest to make sure that we can have a safer city, it wil be important to us to get all the people of Johannesburg contributing,” said Mabusela.

To do so, people can head to the Jozi my Jozi website, navigate to a campaign they want to contribute to, and follow the on-screen prompts.

JmJ is currently raising R300,000 which will go towards the installation of solar-powered lights throughout Johannesburg.

Other projects being piloted by the non-profit include Adopt a Traffic Light and Inner City Gateways, both of which are targeted at improving the city’s roads infrastructure through public and corporate participation.

“We welcome all support,” concluded Mabusela.