To fulfil its promise of improving safety and implementing environmentally sustainable practices, the Drakenstein municipality is providing communities with more efficient and brighter street lighting.
The streetlights of 23 streets in Mbekweni, Paarl and Wellington are being retrofitted with 1400 new light-emitting diode (LED) streetlights. This step is expected to reduce the municipality’s annual carbon emission to just under half a ton and produce an annual energy cost saving of about R550 000.
By replacing high-pressure sodium (HPS) lamps with LED lamps, the DA-led Drakenstein municipality is doing its part to fight the threat of climate change, as well as improving the safety of communities by ensuring well lit spaces.
The 23 streets that were retrofitted – 11 in Mbekweni, seven in Paarl and five in Wellington – were chosen to benefit from this project based on the need to improve safety in these areas.
Drakenstein municipality, voted the Greenest Municipality in the Western Cape in 2019, started this project in July 2019 after it was allocated a conditional grant of R5 million from the 2019/2020 Energy Efficiency and Demand Side Management programme managed by the national Department of Energy.
Mayor Conrad Poole said, “The world is facing a climate crisis and Drakenstein municipality, along with all its residents, should play their part in contributing to meaningful climate change measures.”