Opinion | Polokwane is dark

By Lebogang Tiego Legodi

If there is an ideal time to witness “the city of stars”, it is now. The nickname of Polokwane was meant to honour artists and politicians from this province and the open-air stadium in 2010’s Soccer World Cup, today is a dark-sky sanctuary, a Mecca that erodes people safety and security in the so-called “place of safety”.

Suffice to say, the problem of streetlights not working in Polokwane is not a loadshedding issue, as houses remain lit at night. It is rather a case of a municipality which has abandoned its constitutional duty and has, as such, normalised dysfunction.

In Polokwane, we have areas that have been without streetlights for over two years. This is so even with the municipality aware of such dysfunctionality. This then begs the question of whether the municipality is an accomplice to the ongoing crimes, killings and GBV in the city.

Not having lights on opens doors to more road accidents, business looting and easy targeting of elderly and female-led households, a reality for many homes in the province staggered by unemployment and urbanisation to other provinces for better job opportunities.

Just recently, we have witnessed the killing and disappearance of people, especially women and children across the country. The question that perhaps women are now pondering as we move towards the 4^th of November 2026 is “Will I make it home alive after casting my vote?”

This is important as, in the 2024 national and provincial elections, the queues in and around the city were long, having others casting their votes at midnight. Now, think of this year’s elections in a dark town with streetlights burdened with party candidates’ faces and political party slogans instead of having the bulbs on.

Not overlooking the municipality’s recent upgrade to level six and its quest to bid to become a metropolitan, this is rather a plea for those in government to revisit and prioritise basic services in a sustainable manner for all its people. Our concerns should extend to those who walk in the freezing dark each morning before sunrise and after sunset to earn a living: the security guards, cashiers, cleaners, petrol attendants, to name but a few. The vendors who brave the cold in their respective stalls just to fend for themselves and their loved ones. If progress means bids for metropolitan status while vendors freeze in the dark, then we urgently need to redefine what progress really means.

We know that people who rely on the stars for light at night to walk home and make it safe are governed by those housed in secured gated communities.

The latter is evident with the campaigns for Local Government Elections, as party members are seen mobilising for votes and taking pictures and videos doing door-to- door campaigns. These individuals appear to be shocked by the concerns and struggles raised by ordinary people whom they want to vote them into power.

This piece is not really for the party lobbyists but rather for the people of Polokwane, who should not be entangled, at least with non-issues, by the media about Polokwane, but rather be outraged by the crisis that has been normalised.

The failure of basic services such as streetlights, amongst others, should be seen as a grievable issue as it threatens our safety and security.

While others may dismiss streetlights not working as a minor issue, this administrative inconvenience makes us question “whose safety matters? and which residents are recognised?”. When citizens of Polokwane’s livelihoods are not safeguarded as they remain exposed to security threats and lessened dignity, one is then forced to pose the question of “whose lives are grievable?”. Now that we are heading towards local government elections, the dysfunctional streetlight merely serves as a pole to hang up posters of political parties contesting elections.

It is also worth mentioning that the dysfunction of streetlights is not unique to Polokwane. In fact, this is evident and can be generalised to numerous cities and towns around the country wherein municipalities, which ought to be the interface between citizens and government as they are the sphere of government at the coalface of the people, are far from addressing the basic services of the people it claims to serve.

Municipalities ought to be responsive and further account to its citizens’ needs.

However, when residents have to report broken lights for over two years, that speaks to how the government fails to repair and maintain basic municipal services that directly affect citizens.

The ongoing reporting of streetlights alerts us to the neglected needs of people and, as such, tells us of the urgent gap in a responsive municipality to its residents.

Needless to say, the people of Polokwane remain reliant on the stars at night to light up the streets as the so-called “City of Stars” remains dark. At least unlike the government, the sky remembers its duty.

Lebogang Tiego Legodi is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Limpopo and writes in her personal capacity.