Child's agony after power substation explodes

File photo: INLSA

File photo: INLSA

Published Jan 16, 2018

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Cape Town - “Will my face ever be the same way as before, Mom?” 6-year-old Asenako Mbali, who suffered an electric shock while playing outside a mini-substation, constantly asks her mother.

Her Kayamandi, Stellenbosch, family are demanding answers about why a mini-substation which exploded and injured the child was left unlocked and not fenced.

Asenako is recovering in the Red Cross Children’s Hospital after the mini-substation exploded while she was

playing next to it with her friends.

Her uncle, Tandile Buxeka, 32, told the Cape Times on Monday that the family wanted the Stellenbosch municipality to take responsibility for what happened and were in the process of suing it for negligence.

He said the mini-substation had been unlocked and unfenced since before December, despite numerous attempts by residents to have it fenced and locked.

The Kayamandi residents have signed a petition and sent it to the municipality to compel it to pay the medical costs for the injuries Asenako suffered.

Buxeka said Asenako had been playing with friends next to the mini-substation, which is about 15m from their home, when it exploded.

He said it should have been fenced and locked, and the municipality should have been monitoring its property to prevent such an incident.

Buxeka said he had been inside their home when he saw Asenako “flying” away from the substation as it exploded.

He found her lying unconscious on the ground.

“After the explosion of that dangerous box, not even one official from the municipality came to check with the family affected,” he said.

Asenako’s mother, Phakama Mbali, said she was unemployed and her child was “ignorantly endangered by the municipality by not taking seriously the regular reports made by personsabout this danger being unlocked”.

Mbali said: “My child is between life and death.” She cries when she imagines being damaged for the rest of her life.”

She has been reassuring her daughter that all will be well, even though she knows a dermatologist will have to heal the scars, “which I know I cannot afford”.

Buxeka said the municipality should “come to the fore and show humanity before the whole thing is blown out of proportion. We would like to see justice displayed”.

Stellenbosch municipality manager Geraldine Mettler said the municipality was “deeply alarmed and saddened” by the incident.

“Our thoughts are with the girl and her family during this difficult time. The municipality has already visited and spoken with her parents, and visited the girl in hospital,” said Mettler.

She said vandalism of the substation had been reported to the police and the municipality had launched a full investigation.

Cape Times

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