According to Mr Mashegwana, his daughter Thabi Natasha Mashegwana (9) died after she was searching for her shoes under a bed and accidentally touched an uninsulated electrical cable.
The incident happened at Hlalanikahle in Extension 2 on Tuesday June 10, at about 15:30 when he was called to rush home. He said the cable was joined and the person joining it did not insulate it thereafter. He said after Thabi took a bath, water spilled and flowed to the cable under the bed and while she was looking for her shoes she touched the cable accidentally, she died on the scene.
“She was everything to the family, very quiet, but a hard worker who loved her books. She used to clean the house and sometimes would wake me up after preparing a cup of tea. She will be greatly missed by the whole family,” said Mr Mashegwana sadly.
Thabi was a Grade 4 pupil at Besilindile Primary School. She has an elder sister who is 11 years old and a younger sister who is one year six months old.
According to the police this is not the first incident of this kind in Hlalalnikahle, two other incidence of this nature were reported in the past. Even though not exactly in the same area, but illegal connections of electricity are widely spread in Hlalanikahle.
Mr Theo Van Vuuren, city administrator in his Facebook page said: “Please be careful, illegal connections for electricity overload our system and contribute to transformer circuit breaker trips and burn outs. However, it also has a much more serious inherent risk.
In Hlalanikahle a 9-year-old girl, staying in a backroom, which received electricity through a homemade unprotected wire, was electrocuted. My condolences to the family with this tragic loss. The SAPS will be investigating this case together with the electrical department of the municipality.”
Police have opened an inquest.
Thabi was laid to rest at Skinod in Sekhukhune on Sunday, June 15 at 07:00.
