Shacks under power lines a risk

Residents of Extension 14 in Soshanguve are living in danger of being electrocuted.

With demands for land and housing increasing, residents of Extension 14 said they were forced to occupy land and built shacks under high voltage power lines.

However, the residents were told at a community meeting recently that most of them could find themselves homeless.

During the meeting, community leaders called on the Tshwane metro to provide alternative land to the residents.

One of the residents, Michael Mokoena, blamed the local residents committee for telling them to build houses shacks under the power lines.

Mokoena said strong winds increased the chances of line breaks.

“We followed orders from our leaders who were allocating stands. And because we needed a place to stay, we didn’t ask many questions,” said Mokoena.

Local community leader, Kumkani Sigquka said Eskom had warned them of the dangers of the cables, and they had agreed to remove all shacks built under the power lines.

“We are in a process of moving those who are affected,” he said.

Eskom spokesperson Eone de Villiers said maintenance teams had great difficulty in gaining access to the area because of the high density of dwellings built below them.

She emphasised the danger of living underneath high-voltage lines.

People building houses or dwellings directly under power lines were not only breaking the law, but were putting themselves, their families and their possessions at serious risk.

De Villiers said these lines were not insulated and carried power of a very high voltage.

“If a power line drops onto the roof, the roof becomes live as most of these houses are roofed with corrugated iron.”

De Villiers appealed to the public to stop building houses or dwellings underneath power lines.

She said the residents were mainly at risk in the event of natural disasters like storms, wind and general fault conditions when odds of lines snapping increased.

“The risk of being injured is increased if power lines or conductors are damaged or their condition has deteriorated over time. There are also other possible disasters that could occur such as veld fires or lightning strikes that can cause the lines to drop.”

De Villiers said people living under power lines at times also caused unnecessary power cuts.

Relocating the illegal occupants remained the responsibility of the landowner, in many cases the local municipality.

She said continuous contact was maintained with all municipalities to make them aware of the dangers to people living under power lines.