CoJ warn residents of illegal connections after 9-year-old electrocuted

The City of Johannesburg has warned communities in the informal settlements about the dangers of illegal electricity connections after a 9-year-old died by electrocution last week.

In a statement on Wednesday, Environment and Infrastructure Services Department MMC, Mpho Moerane, said the 9-year-old was electrocuted after touching exposed cables running past the family shack in Kanana Ext 4, Rabie Ridge.

Moerane said the exposed cables were used to connect electricity illegally in the area.

“The Kanana informal settlement is one of the many hotspots in the Johannesburg Metro identified by City Power where the problem of illegal connections persists.

“Illegal connections lead to overloading of the network, leading to frequent outages, as seen this past winter. Not only do illegal connections cost the City millions in lost revenue, they are a danger to the residents, especially children,” he said.

Moerane further said that City Power would intensify the cut-off of illegal connections across the City.

“They will do so while continuing with an education drive about the dangers of vandalism and illegal connections,” he added.

Forensics at the scene. Image: City of Johannesburg

In a separate incident, a 20-month-old boy also lost his life after stepping on an exposed electrical cables in Nellmapius, Pretoria earlier this month, Rekord Newspaper reported.

His Grandmother, Florence Qhangayo, said the toddler [Siphiwe] died near his home in Mavuso informal settlement on a Sunday.

“I was the one who found him afterwards. The tragedy took place in only a minute or so.” Qhangayo said.

“His mum had just stepped out to go to a mall while the youngster wanted to accompany his uncle to a nearby shop. His uncle was a few metres ahead of him, so Siphiwe turned around to try and get to the shops using a different route.

“A few metres away he stepped on the fence and was electrocuted. I went to look for him just after he went out and that’s when I found him,” she said.

Qhangayo said her heart sunk when she saw her grandson on the ground.

“A neighbour helped to get the his feet off the fence but it was too late. We took him to hospital and they confirmed he had died.”

“The dead boy’s mum [Bukelwa] said she was shocked when she arrived on the scene.

“When I got there and saw him, I didn’t know he had died. I just thought he was badly hurt. He was such a light, bubbly and happy child.”

She said the incident has left Siphiwe’s older brother Silindisiwe, 6, traumatised.

“He cries and says he misses his brother and keeps on asking when he is coming back. It is truly heartbreaking.”

Following the incident, Bukelwa said the illegal connections were stripped off, but a week later, they were back.

Tshwane metro head administrator Mpho Nawa said a team from the administration was set to meet with the community following the death of the child.

“The team will meet with the community to discuss the issue of illegal connections and other issues of service delivery, as we look into formalising the informal settlements.”

Community leader Vusimuzi Msiza said the community was to engage with the metro this week, to get the settlement legally connected following the death of the toddler.

This second part of the article first appeared on Rekord and was republished with permission.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.