A child should not have to die for TCLM to do its job
Harm can be caused to any person when they are exposed to “live parts” that are either touched directly or indirectly by means of some conducting object or material.
LYDENBURG – After the shock of little Jaden Landsberg (10) who had apparently been electrocuted by a live municipal wire, residents took photos of various streets in town where uncovered wires are visible. In several streets, electricity boxes were open with exposed cables.
Other boxes simply had no locks on them, which could lead to anyone tampering with the wires. Shockingly, some of these open boxes are near Laerskool Lydenburg in Finsbury Road and another near Klopkloppie Day-Care Centre. Residents posted several pictures on social media and expressed their disbelief on how many boxes, cables, and wires were unprotected.
Harm can be caused to any person when they are exposed to “live parts” that are either touched directly or indirectly by means of some conducting object or material. Voltages over 120 volts are considered hazardous. The voltage meter reading found by electricians at the corner of Rivier and Lombaard streets, where Jaden and his friends had been riding their bikes, was 230 volts.
According to DA Cllr Mr Comfort Sibiya, it is not just in the town district where exposed wires pose a serious risk. Mashishing is also criss-crossed by broken electricity boxes and exposed wires. Not only does this also contribute to electricity being breached, but also threatens the safety of children and residents in this extension.
DA councillor, Mr Nicko Janse van Vuuren, told the newspaper that some of these boxes had miraculously been fixed in the past few days. “It makes me even madder that a child had to die for them to do something that should be a basic service. It is unacceptable that this led to them fixing it. I am highly disgusted by the state of affairs. I have personally taken officials on tours, not once but on a few occasions, and have shown them the faults around town. Yet nothing was done about it. It is a sad case of reactive governance. I will even call it disaster management at this municipality.”
Thaba Chweu Local Municipality responded to the pictures sent to it by the newspaper. Spokesman for TCLM, Mr Puleng Mapheto, said the municipality had a credit-control policy whereby consumers who were owing on their accounts were switched off after notifying it and were given 14 days’ notice. “As a result of the cut-offs, some consumers resort to breaking locks in kiosks, meter boxes, and mini-substations, in order to reconnect electricity that was cut off. We recently put up yellow jaguar locks to safeguard our meter boxes and mini-substations from tampering around Lydenburg.
“This proves that illegal connections are not only in the townships but in town as well. We are looking at sourcing and installing iron meter boxes in Lydenburg. These boxes are robust and cannot easily be tampered with.” He said illegal connections in town are also caused by developers and electrical contractors who take short cuts to connect electricity illegally while building. “We will continue putting up locks, but within a week or two these locks are repeatedly damaged.
Lastly, we caution members of the community to refrain from damaging municipal property, as this is viewed as serious criminal activity. Any member found transgressing will face the long arm of the law. This kind of behaviour is barbaric and unacceptable.”
