Durban - A 5-year-old boy who dreamed of becoming a policeman to protect his family has died after a live electrical wire in a Shallcross informal settlement snagged his foot.
Barefooted Mhlengi Bright Hlophe was returning from bush along the uMhlatuzana River, where he had answered the call of nature, when the tragedy unfolded on Saturday. He had to cross over an illegal electrical cable running across the river to get home.
His mother, Tholakele Hlophe, said he had tried to skip over the cable but his foot got caught in it.
“His friends who were on the riverbank watched in horror before calling me. I came out of the house and saw him lying face down in the water. His foot was still on the cable. I tried to pick him up but I also felt electrical waves go through me,” Hlophe said.
She picked up a plank and pushed his leg away from the wire. She carried him to the bank, where they live, but it was too late: Mhlengi was dead. The cable crosses the river at knee height. A rope is tied across the embankment to trees or rocks and the cable is attached to it to avoid contact with the water.
Part of the cable is covered with bamboo and reeds and it then goes underground to shacks in the vicinity.
The cable has since been disconnected by the municipality.
Mhlengi’s grandmother, Fikile Hlophe, said the family had been waiting since 1994 to be given houses. Last year, the informal settlement received a container with toilets and showers.
“My grandson lost his life because of empty promises. We want to build proper structures and pay for electricity, but the officials keep promising houses elsewhere. It is not like they don’t know where or how we live. We continue to live like this, with hope,” she said.
This is the first incident at the informal settlement along Chiltern Road. Mhlengi will be buried on Sunday.
Ward 63 committee member, Ntombi Ngidi, said the committee had offered the family counselling.
The committee was unaware of the cable running across the river.
Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs spokesman, Lennox Mabaso, said his department had advised municipalities to embark on campaigns to change people’s attitudes towards illegal connections.
“The citizens, not the leadership, must adopt the behaviour to report these illegal activities. They witness these activities, but opt to remain silent. Innocent people get killed in the process, including children,” Mabaso said.
City spokesman, Thabo Mofokeng, said the municipality continued to get reports of electrocution due to illegal connections.
“The municipality discourages illegal connections because they pose a danger to the public. Operations are conducted regularly to remove illegal connections. We are also intensifying programmes to electrify informal settlements.”
Illegal power connections blamed for several deaths
Illegal electricity connections, an ongoing problem, have claimed the lives of several people in recent years.
On January 8 this year, Mthobisi Mokoena, 23, was electrocuted in the Swapo informal settlement in Copesville, Pietermaritzburg, when he stepped on an illegal connection.
The previous day, 5-year-old Nontobeko Mjoli died in a similar way in the Jika Joe settlement, also in the capital city. According to witnesses, the little girl was returning from the toilet when she stepped on an exposed live wire.
Nontobeko apparently fell on the wire and was electrocuted.
On January 5, a woman from iNtshawini, near KwaDukuza, died while fetching water.
Mntu Ntuli, 37, had grabbed a live wire to lift it above the bucket balanced on her head.
In November 6 last year, DA councillor Ken Denysschen died after he apparently touched a live cable wrapped around a pole while putting up election posters for Mooi River’s by-election.
On October 7, three young men were electrocuted while allegedly trying to illegally connect electricity to their homes in oThongathi’s (Tongaat) rural area of Emona.
A 19-year-old was electrocuted when he fell into a swamp while connecting live wires. His 23-year-old brother dived in to save him, but was also electrocuted.
The brothers died at the scene. Their 17-year-old friend was pronounced dead on arrival at a clinic after he tried to save the brothers.
On March 31, an 8-year-old boy from Copesville was allegedly electrocuted by cables left exposed by cable thieves.
In January last year, Thabani Zondo, 14, was electrocuted by an illegal electricity connection near his home in Copesville. He was trying to retrieve his soccer ball after it had rolled into a stream.
He ran to fetch it, stepped into the water and was electrocuted by live cables that passed through the stream.
In July 2013, 6-year-old Aviwe Vava, who was visiting her parents at the Jika Joe settlement, slipped and was electrocuted when she grabbed a live wire in an attempt to break her fall.
In the same year, Moshe Motoung, 36, was electrocuted in Jika Joe, and Lucky Mzila was found dead in a ditch in Regina Road, Northdale, Pietermaritzburg, on top of a number of illegal electrical cables that snaked their way to a nearby informal settlement.
Three-year-old Ntokozo Cele was electrocuted in May 2010 when she grabbed a live wire running along the ground in Jika Joe.
Illegal electricity connections, an ongoing problem, have claimed the lives of several people in recent years.
Daily News