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Live cable underwater, left exposed for days

While Dennesig is still one of those suburbs where it’s safe for children to ride their bikes to school, any children playing around in Colley Lane were at risk of a nasty shock.

This, after a simple pipe repair left a damaged, live electricity cable underwater and exposed for days.

Colley Lane resident JP Peyper turned to the Middelburg Observer after days of reporting the situation to the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality.

According to Peyper, the Department of Water dug a ditch with a TLB on Monday to repair a broken pipe when they damaged an electricity cable, as well as the street’s fibre.

“The ditch, which was full of water with the live cable, damaged and underwater, was just left like that. I could see the cable sparking and making bubbles underwater. My question is, what if a pedestrian falls in?”

According to Peyper, the situation was reported by himself and DA Ward Councillor Johann Dyason on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, but by Wednesday evening, nothing had been done.

The live electricity cable, exposed underwater.

One house on the corner of Colley Lane and Helen Joseph has been without electricity since Monday, while the street’s fibre has also been affected.

Dyason confirmed the situation but said a breakdown of communication between the two departments seemed to complicate repairs.

“The Department of Electricity and the fibre installer were there on Wednesday evening but can’t do any repairs due to the water welling in the ditch. The Department of Water has also been on the scene to empty the ditch, but by the time the electrical team responds, the ditch is full of water again.”

Dyason also alerted residents of several pipe bursts across town this week, which has occupied the Department of Water and Sanitation.

Dyason, however, confirmed that the pipe leak has been fixed and that the ditch is dry.
He reported shortly before publication that the electrical team was on the scene to repair the cable this morning.

“The fibre installer will be around at 11:00 to repair their cables.”

A media enquiry was sent to STLM’s media spokesperson, but no response was received by the time of publication.

@middelburgobserver

A live electricity cable was left exposed and underwater for several days in Dennesig.

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Sjani Campher

Sjani has been working as a community journalist and photographer at the Middelburg Observer since 2018, during which she has been responsible for the content creation for both digital and print, as well as maintaining the publication's online platforms. She is a member of the Forum for Community Journalists, and focuses on fields including hard news, investigative reporting, human interest, columns and sports.
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