Many people continue to connect electricity illegally, ignoring warnings that electricity is extremely powerful and can be deadly if not treated with care and respect, electricity parastatal Eskom said on Saturday.
File photo: Gallo Images
A case in point was a community member who died while trying to connect electricity illegally to an Eskom structure in East London by throwing a piece of wire over the 11kV side of a transformer which was live.
“Connecting in this way is not only illegal but it is extremely dangerous. People making these connections are not qualified professionals and the connection does not have the required safety protection features, which consequently puts ordinary South Africans at risk,” Eskom corporate occupational health and safety senior manager Jace Naidoo said in the statement.
Despite the clearance of the electricity line at nine metres – within the allowed standard – a danger sign indicating the voltage rating on the structure, and having an anti-climbing device installed, the community member went ahead and connected illegally to the nearest point of electricity supply.
“As in many instances, we had put all our safety measures in place but these were ignored. This community member, who was trying to reconnect the transformer, ignored the dangers of what he was doing and it proved fatal,” Naidoo said.
Illegal connections were one of the leading causes of electricity-related injuries and deaths in South Africa and innocent children were the most common victims. An electricity connection was considered illegal when it was made to the Eskom network without Eskom’s permission.
Connecting to a mini-substation or overhead network in this way was illegal. These connections posed great risks as they overloaded the system and could lead to fires and electrocution.
“It’s also very disheartening that injuries and fatalities caused by illegal connections are completely avoidable,” Naidoo said.
“Illegal connections affect entire neighbourhoods. Eskom’s network has been designed in a way that it caters for a specific number of customers. If more electricity is drawn from one point this can lead to overloading that can make the power trip and can shorten the lifespan of equipment. We have an electrification programme in place for communities, and illegal connections force us to re-focus our efforts on these dangerous connections,” Naidoo said.
