WATCH: Eskom launches #MamaKnowsBest campaign to educate SA on electricity safety

Published Aug 4, 2020

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Durban - Eskom has officially kicked off their #MamaKnowsBest campaign which aims to encourage families and communities to use electricity safely and to stop dangerous and unsafe electricity practices.

Senior Manager for Occupational Health and Safety at Eskom, Miranda Moahlodi, said with August being Women's Month, they wanted to honour women for their strength, intelligence and immense contribution to the well-being of society.

"Mothers often conceive the smartest ideas on keeping their families safe and we can surely all benefit from learning from each other," she said.

Moahlodi said since the implementation of the lockdown, they have noticed an increase in illegal connections.

She said that this has seen a surge in electrocutions and shows that for many South Africans, electricity safety is not the foremost concern.

"We aim to change that with this campaign. Our hope is that South Africans realise that individual actions can have a profound impact on whole communities. Illegal connections have resulted in many families losing loved ones," she said.

Moahlodi said Electricity Safety Month is a month dedicated to raising awareness about the safe use of electricity.

"If we had our way, every month would be electricity safety month! But by committing 31 days once a year we aim to clearly place electrical safety in the limelight and forefront of peoples’ minds to assist in meeting our objective of ensuring zero harm to members of the public, employees and contractors," Moahlodi said.

She added that the main risks associated with illegal connections were due to illegal wires that were not connected to earth leakage unit or other electrical protection which will “trip” or break the current if somebody touches a live wire.

She said the insulation around these live wires is usually insufficient to protect the person touching the wires from getting shocked. "If one combines this with the lack of earth leakage, then there is a very dangerous – and often fatal – situation and so many people are shocked or killed in this way every year.

“Communities also feel the need to protect the connections that are made illegally and when they see Eskom vehicles entering their neighbourhoods, they attack or intimidate our employees. We understand that cutting illegal connections may appear harsh but the reality of it is that this is very necessary," Moahlodi said.

She appealed to communities to help curb the aggression and violence that Eskom employees are subjected to.

"At the end of the day we also have families who are waiting for us at home after a day at work like everyone else," she said.

She urged the community to report any illegal connections, exposed wires or any electrical wiring that appears dangerous to Eskom or the local municipality.

"By doing this you would have saved the life of a child or any person that was not aware of such danger. Let’s be each other’s keepers by practicing electrical safety, always," Moahlodi said.

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