Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi in his annual State of the Province Address on 24 February called on motorists to avoid kissing traffic lights with their cars.
This comes amidst a scourge of theft, vandalism, and destruction of traffic infrastructure within the nation’s most populous province.
Authorities have identified some 400 non-functional signals in the province which for the most part were damaged through theft and vehicle accidents.
It has reached the point where the City of Johannesburg is spending some R12 billion a year on servicing and repairing vandalised and stolen traffic signals.
The metro will henceforth also recoup costs from drivers who damaged road infrastructure, whether on purpose or accidentally.
The Premier said that the provincial government has set aside sufficient finances for roads management authorities to tend to the damaged traffic signals within their jurisdiction, but called on motorists to act responsibly when travelling the roads.
“I want to make this plea to all those that are drinking expensive water over the weekends and month-end, please, after drinking your expensive water, ensure that your cars don’t fall in love with our traffic lights and go on a deep kiss,” said Lesufi.
Tamper-proof traffic signals
Lesufi noted that Gauteng will soon release a new “intelligent system” that can detect if somebody is tampering with road infrastructure.
“We will unleash another intelligent system that will be tamper proof, that will immediately alert us if somebody is tampering with our traffic lights,” he said.
While the Premier didn’t go into detail on what the system will entail, a possible solution could be something similar to what is being done in Cape Town.
The Mother City recently rolled out what it calls “submersible chambers” at key intersections where theft and vandalism were frequent problems.
These chambers take the core components of the traffic signal into a large concrete base, which is then recessed below the ground.
Unlike regular lights that are connected to the national grid, the lights with submersible chambers run on an uninterrupted power supply which means they do not have exposed cables that could be a target for thieves.
Another benefit is that they are independent of Eskom and unaffected by load-shedding.
These chambers were designed to be completely tamper-proof and are fitted with vibration-sensitive alarms that detect when someone may be trying to dig around the site and pick at the concrete.
If the alarm senses something, an alert is sent out to law enforcement, who are quickly dispatched to the scene.
The City said that these systems have proved to be a massive success and that many of the “nightmare” intersections are now running smoothly since their installation.
The City of Cape Town said that it is more than happy to share this innovation, and that it receives regular delegations from other metros like the City of Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay who have shown interest in adopting the strategy.
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