A FAMILY from Greenville squatter camp is mourning the death of a loved one who was electrocuted by illegal connections.
City Power spokesman Isaac Mangena said a 50-year-old man was found electrocuted along London Road in Alexandra, east of Joburg on Friday, 16 September. He said according to information from the family, he was walking across to buy a goat for a planned ceremony.
He said that area was plagued by illegal connections with a spiderweb of bare wires hidden in the nearby bushes.
“Any person who doesn’t know the area may be in danger of being electrocuted,” he said.
And in the past, they conducted operations to rid the area of illegal connections but people always ended up reconnecting. This was also a concern to some residents, especially those with kids.
They feared that their kids would get electrocuted as they always ran around while playing.
A woman (41) who lives in the same neighbourhood as the dead man said her sister also got electrocuted last month, but it wasn’t too bad as she stepped into a smaller part of the connection.
The sister was walking with someone who quickly called an ambulance when she collapsed.
“I’ve warned my two kids, aged eight and 10, not to play in that area. But I’m afraid they will end up going there, anyway,” he said.
Another resident (51) said two weeks ago, he saw two men connecting electricity illegally and when he confronted them, they told him to mind his business.
“I walked away and they just continued,” he said.
Mangena urged residents to report those who kept connecting electricity illegally, as they were endangering people’s lives.
The family of the dead man was unavailable to speak to Daily Sun.
