A FIRE believed to have been caused by illegal electricity connections destroyed seven shacks on Sunday 11 August at the Stockville Valley informal settlement in Gillitts.
According to DA Ward Councillor Rick Crouch, the fire left 16 people “desperate and homeless” in its destructive wake.
This comes after illegal power connections in the area led to the destruction of an elderly woman’s home a month ago and the death of three-year-old Kwanele Sithole earlier this month.
Upon hearing of the disaster Cllr Crouch contacted eThekwini Disaster Management, who supplied 16 disaster packs which included blankets and food.
Cllr Crouch along with Ward 10 committee member Shaun Ryley delivered the disaster relief packs to the homeless residents at 8pm on Monday evening.
“People have to be educated as to both the legality and the danger of using illegal electricity. It will be interesting to see if Hillcrest SAPS arrest and charge anyone for the death of the child, at the very least it should be the person who owned the shack where the child died and the person who made money making the illegal connection. Someone has to be held accountable for the death,” said Crouch.
“These disasters are not political, I am the councillor to everyone in Ward 10 whether they voted for me or not, whether they are members of the DA, ANC IFP or EFF I am their councillor. You do not need a DA membership card for me to help you. I think it is important that this message get out,” he added.
Lt. Justice Mhkize, the communications officer at the Hillcrest SAPS, could only confirm that one shack had burned down and that no one was injured.
He reported that the incident is under investigation and that no one has been arrested, but stated that the SAPS is focusing on the incident involving the death of the young boy.
“Someone will definitely be arrested if the investigation proves that the boy’s death was caused by an illegal power connection,” said Lt Mhkize.
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