Durban: Gauteng newly-weds Zaheer and Nabeela Sarang died after they were electrocuted at their home in Mayfair on Sunday morning.
The incident was caused by a faulty electrical connection due to illegal connections.
Zaheer, 29, and Nabeela, 24, were married on May 30 and returned home on Saturday from their honeymoon in Durban.
Alex Christians, the DA ward councillor in the area, said it was believed that Nabeela went to shower and was electrocuted when she touched a tap.
"When Zaheer heard her fall, he went to see what happened and he, in turn, was also electrocuted. When the couple did not pitch for their luncheon appointment with family, the family got worried. They got into the couple's outbuilding to find the couple deceased."
Christians said they were buried on Monday.
"The loss of any life is one too many. The city has failed to protect its residents from this tragedy by not acting within the given service delivery timelines set by the council. I reported the issue of residents being shocked when they touch their taps to the City of Johannesburg, the City Power councillor escalation group, on June 5."
"It has taken two deaths for them to act. My condolence goes out to the families of the deceased. May the Almighty grant his young couple the highest place in Jannat."
After the incident was posted on Facebook, residents from Mayfair shared their experiences.
Asif Shaazia Dawood wrote: "I've had a similar situation two weeks back. My daughter and wife felt a slight shock whilst bathing. And the earth leakage tripped. After that, the earth leakage tripped like every 15 minutes. The next day, I had no power at all.
“I reported the fault to Eskom and it turned out to be a cable fault. Apparently, 2 cables were touching each other. The electrician gave us temporary power and left. But he never came back to sort it out as yet. It really is scary."
Maritza Engelbrecht said: "We also had it many times before until, one day after a power outage from load shedding, the electricity came back on and broke a few of our appliances. It was a power surge and we were also shocked by the taps. (We) Called the electricians from the municipality. They connected the wires incorrectly on the electric pole.
"When we found out it was not only us (getting shocked from) the taps, we called the municipality out again. They came to fix it, so I asked and the electrician said one of the previous techs connected the wrong wires and then (he) also said he had to put in earth on the electricity pole."
Nana Radebe, the spokesperson for the City of Johannesburg, referred the POST to the City Power Department for comment.
Isaac Mangena, the spokesperson for City Power, said: "City Power has learnt with sadness the report about the electrocution of a couple in Crosby near Mayfair Johannesburg. The CEO, Mr Mongezi Ntsokolo, has requested the team to launch an urgent investigation into the allegations that the couple was killed by a faulty electrical connection, attributed to the illegal connections in the area."
Mangena said that from Monday morning, two teams were busy with the preliminary investigation to establish the facts.
"And we will provide the details at a later stage. While we are busy with investigations, we urge the residents to desist from tampering with electricity infrastructure, vandalism and illegal connections, which may lead to the circuit malfunctioning."
Gauteng police spokesperson Captain Mavela Masondo said an inquest docket was opened.
"The bodies of a couple were found inside the shower in Cosby, Mayfair, on Sunday. It is suspected that the couple was electrocuted. Police are still waiting for the post-mortem results that will confirm the cause of death."
The family were not available for comment.
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