Suffer the little children

SO often in life it is the little innocents who must pay the price for the blunders, criminality and stupidity of their elders.

Since the birth of Christ when, history tells us, King Herod had all male babies under the age of two slaughtered in the hope of snaring the Messiah in his net, children have been the ones who suffer.

Photojournalists around the world have recorded the huge blank eyes and skeletal frames of starving children in Biafra, the Congo, Ethiopia and Sudan; Africa’s children have died in their droves for want of a bowl of porridge. Who can forget Kevin Carter’s iconic photo of an emaciated child in the Sudan being stalked by a vulture?

However we do not need to look north of us to find examples, we need only to look outside to find that little children in our neighbourhoods are victims who suffer because of the actions of adults.

Our front page story today tells the horrifying story of a three-year-old toddler who was electrocuted when he picked up live electrical wires which had been used

to illegally connect electricity to shacks in Stockville.

He is not the first child to have died in such a manner, and he will not be the last.

It is a complex problem and it is understood how living in a shack without electricity and water on tap is a hardship which forces people to do things which are illegal.

But having exposed wires lying around where they can by reached by children cannot be condoned on the grounds of poverty. It is not only irresponsible, it is criminal. Whoever is responsible for this child’s death should be charged with murder.

It is also clear that the municipality is aware of where the illegal connections are but it seems they are reluctant to act.

The problem in Stockville is that the land is privately owned so eThekwini cannot sanction the installation of electricity because the occupation of the land is illegal.

Pity those poor mothers who must leaves their babes in the care of others as they seek work, never knowing if there is a deadly force lying in wait in the dust where small children play.

There are other issues here too. Issues of the cost of electricity and who is paying for that which is being stolen.

With load shedding an ever present possibility and escalating costs, is it fair to ask the ratepayers of eThekwini

to carry the burden of a housing and utilities problem which hinges on service delivery and lies within the power of the government?

The Stockville shack land controversy needs to be prioritised for urgent attention so people may have the basics of life which we, more fortunate, take for granted.