On a few nights of late, I've had occasion to drive on the streets of our self-styled "World-Class African City". When I have done so, I've wondered whether they still bother to fix streetlights in Joburg. Or whether the responsible parties have decided to let the lights go to pot until the place is plunged into darkness through deliberate neglect.

On the main roads and side streets there are stretches of darkness amid islands of light...