By Anita Dangazele
It has taken the deaths of at least two people for Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality to connect up a Gqeberha informal settlement to be given access to electricity.
Following multiple deaths caused by illegal connections, residents of Khayelitsha informal settlement in the Motherwell township were connected to the grid on Wednesday.
About 214 residents from Khayelitsha informal settlement benefited from the first phase of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality’s (NMBM) electrification project.
At least two people lost their lives through electroshock caused by illegal connections in the past year in this community.
NMBM Energy and Electricity political head, councillor Lance Grootboom, said a major reason why they are putting electricity in informal settlements is to reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by illegal connections.
“We have heard reports of deaths and injuries due to illegal electricity connections. In October there was a mother from this community who died due to these deadly wires,” he said.
During the jovial celebration, Grootboom commended ward councillor Thanduxolo Doda for having fought so valiantly in council meetings for this community to be connected to the grid.
“About 600 more houses in this community are yet to be connected to the grid and we envisage this project will be completed by the end of the financial year in July,” said Councillor Doda
Resident Nandipha Ndlela, 37, said she couldn’t wait for the illegal connections to be disconnected as she was constantly worried about the safety of her four children.
“We are happy the illegal connections will be removed as we lost a child and a young woman in one year from this community. Some got lucky and did not die but suffered injuries, so we are very happy,” said the unemployed mother.
Ndlela, who is solely dependent on her children’s social grant, said until now she had been forced to pay a monthly fee of R150 for an illegal connection that came with serious risks.
Pictured Above: Khayelitsha resident disconnecting his illegal connection just before the long-awaited switch on
Image source: Anita Dangazele
