‘No problem caused by smoke from burning cables

When the African Reporter arrived at the KwaThema Hostel on Tuesday to investigate the complaints, no resident at the hostel wanted to confirm the smoke, that allegedly fills the whole hostel, especially at night, is causing any discomfort.

According to the calls that the paper has received, there are people who reside at the hostel who burn the copper cables inside the hostel’s block A and B between the rooms, in search for copper.

The caller, who did not want to give his name, said the smoke from the burning cables is unbearable.

“The smoke increases the risk of us getting TB and causes us to suffer from smoke inhalation,” he said.

One of the residents at the hostel who has lived there for more than five years and whose room is opposite one of the sites where the burning happens, Obed Magwanyana, said the smoke does not affect them.

He said no-one from his family and the neighbours are complaining of smoke inhalation-related sickness.

“The cables are always burnt at night, the time in which everyone is behind the closed doors,” said Magwanyana, adding that the majority of residents at the hostel understand that those who burn the cables there are trying to make ends meet.

One of the people who admitted to be burning the cables there, only known as Mbatha, said those who complain about the smoke are the people who want to see them begging on the streets for food.

He said the smoke from the burning cables is not dangerous and that people should complain about serious and important things that are not going right in the hostel.

“Because we are not employed, we look for old and abandoned cables and burn them so that we can sell the copper inside and be able to feed our families and send money back home,” said Mbatha.

KwaThema police spokesman Captain Mandla Phori said the police were not aware of the burning of cables in the hostel, however the police will start to investigate the matter.