SONS and daughters of Robert Sinyoka village, which is on the outskirts of Bulawayo, but falls under Pumula constituency, have bought and installed solar lights to aid public lighting at night in their community.
Bulawayo’s ward 17 councillor Sikhululekile Moyo acknowledged the efforts by the foreign and locally-based citizens.
She said the development had assisted greatly in curbing robberies at night in the area.
“The children of Robert Sinyoka here in Bulawayo, others in Botswana, South Africa and abroad sat down and saw the importance of helping the community because the people that stay here are their parents and they saw that they are falling victim to crime due to the darkness at night,” she said.
“They saw that their area is a place that is worthy of being taken care of and that they should take it into their own hands to fix the issue since council has a lot on its hands at the moment.”
Moyo implored residents of other suburbs to emulate the efforts of the offspring from the peri-urban area to contribute to the development of their communities in light of increased crime around the city.
Bulawayo has seen most of its suburbs being plunged into darkness as a result of non-functional tower lights.
The functioning streetlights are also being affected by the incessant power outages.
Earlier this year, the City of Bulawayo was urged to switch to solar-powered tower lights to lower the costs of electricity.