About R28.1-million has been spent on the replacement of stolen and vandalised robots over a period of four years, the City of Johannesburg has said.
Over a year between January 2022 and January 2023, the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) recorded 172 intersections which had been affected by the uprooting of robots, theft of copper cables and batteries, as well as the vandalised infrastructure.
Louis Nel, the JRA acting CEO, said: “Repairing the traffic lights and restoring the signalised intersections will cost the city about R37-million, a figure that is likely to increase considering a rise in the number of incidences of theft and vandalism reported daily.
“It can cost anything between R300 000 and R400 000 to repair one intersection, depending on the extent of the damage. In the last three years, the JRA has spent over R15-million to reconstruct vandalised traffic lights.”
The hotspots include Rosettenville on Wemmerpan Road, which is one of the city’s busiest transport nodes, as it connects to the N17, M2 East, M2 West, Wemmer Jubilee Road, and North Road.
Region F is also greatly affected by theft and vandalism, particularly in the city and suburban areas such as Marshalltown, Booysens and Rosettenville, especially at the intersections of Commissioner and Main road, Booysens and Webber.
The JRA said it also constantly receives reports of vandalised robots in Molapo, Orlando and Diepkoof in Soweto, saying the hotspot intersections include Chris Hani Road, Rand Show Road, Immink Road and Koma Road.
Roodepoort areas’ intersections such as Goldman Street, Ninth Avenue, John Vorster Drive, Die Ou Pad Road, CR Swart Drive and Ouklip Road have also experienced an increase in theft and vandalism.
“The traffic signals are made of copper cables, metal materials are also fitted into these signals. There is an uninterrupted power supply unit and batteries and many other electronic components that are of value, hence these traffic signals are a hotspot.”
The JRA said it has intervened recently and replaced critical infrastructure with material of a lesser resale value, without compromising the functionality of the robots.
“In an effort to discourage copper cable theft, which is a most sought-after item, some traffic intersections have been wired with aluminium cladded copper cables. These cables are no longer of use once they are burnt.
“In some intersections where aluminium and steel traffic signal heads and back boards have been stolen or vandalised, the JRA has replaced the materials with nylon plastic types,” said Nel.
He also highlighted issues around safety, saying: “Because road users’ safety is of utmost importance to the JRA, we have sped up our response in restoring critical intersections using contractors, as they can source the parts and materials without being hamstrung by our internal processes which may take longer periods to finalise.
“In addition, the JRA has ensured the security of the intersections through its remote monitoring system that enables the tracking [of stolen robots].”
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