Johannesburg - The electrocution of 3-year-old Mikyle Jacobs is indicative of an electricity crisis in Westbury, with potential danger spreading throughout the suburb.
This is according to the DA’s Gauteng leader, John Moodey, who visited the child’s grieving family on Thursday.
But City Power has denied any crisis in the area, and blamed illegal connections for the problems.
Mikyle was killed last month when the burglar bars attached to the home and the railing outside of it became electrified, though the exact cause remains unknown. The family have been without power for more than three weeks, as the utility turned off the electricity supply to the house after the incident.
While City Power told The Star last week it was the home’s internal wiring that led to the electrocution, Moodey said on Thursday there had been no physical evidence of an investigation to prove this.
He said his party would bring in a certified electrician to determine any faults, and if the City of Joburg or City Power were responsible, legal assistance would be provided for the family.
According to Moodey, construction in Westbury had given rise to reports that the electrical cables around the neighbourhood were buried just centimetres below the ground, which posed a danger to the community.
DA spokeswoman Tanya Heyderych added that Westbury had been experiencing power outages over the past few weeks “due to none of the street or private electrical boxes in the suburb being equipped with devices that can monitor power surges or leakages”.
Moodey told The Star a petition would be sent around Westbury to determine the issues, electrical or otherwise, to submit to the council’s petitions committee and ensure they were addressed.
“The DA is demanding that the Joburg metro immediately tend to this problem by equipping every street and private electrical box in Westbury with devices that can monitor power surges and leakages, as well as investigating the safety of all the electrical installations in the area,” Heyderych said.
City Power spokesman Sol Masolo denied that shallow cables were common in Westbury, but some had surfaced because of illegal connections. “We have asked the community to stop risking their lives and the lives of their children with illegal connections, which are indeed dangerous,” he said.
“To say the cables in the area have not been attended to is simply not true. How can one electrocution, which took place outside our area of operation - beyond the electricity meter - be proof that the electricity network of the whole area has not been attended to?”
Masolo insisted that City Power had acted in the interests of the Jacobs family by shutting off their power.
He said a full investigation had been conducted on the home before the power was switched off.
Masolo added that the family were advised that they needed a private electrician to ensure their home was safe before the electricity would be reconnected.
The Star