A man from Ivory Park Extension 6 informal settlement was electrocuted to death in the evening of 17 October after he accidentally stepped on electric wires that crisscrossed his shack.
Ivory Park police spokesperson, Captain Bernard Matimulane, said the shack is one of many in the informal settlement that has been illegally connected to the grid.
The 64-year-old victim lived alone in his shack.
Matimulane revealed, “Neighbours said the victim told them he was going to take a bath late that evening. They [neighbours] became worried in the morning of the following day when they did not see the victim come out of his shack. They went into his shack and found him on the floor, allegedly dead. Paramedics were called to the scene and he was certified dead.”
The station commander of the Ivory Park Police Station, Brigadier David Ngcobo, called on members of the public to refrain from illegally connecting their shacks to the grid as this can be a dangerous thing to do.
In a statement, Eskom revealed that illegal connections and meter tampering are the most common cause of injuries and fatalities in South Africa.
The following concerns were raised in the statement:
- An electricity connection is considered illegal when any connection is made to the Eskom network without Eskom’s permission such as connecting to a mini sub-station, or connecting a neighbour through your personal meter or electricity board or tampering or bridging your meter
- Illegal connections are not often suspended at a safe height above ground, leading to children and animals being electrocuted and fatally injured when they unwittingly touch carelessly-laid cables
- Illegal connections lack safety features associated with the connections. When electrical connections are made by untrained persons, the cables often lack protective insulation
- Illegally-connected wires can also make contact with other items like roofs, gutters, washing lines and security gates, making these items live and able to conduct electricity and shock people.
In order to address these challenges, Eskom established Operation Khanyisa, a partnership campaign that aims to mobilise South Africans to use electricity legally. Only authorised Eskom employees and contractors are permitted to work on all Eskom structures, the statement read.
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