Soweto infant dies after inhaling paraffin fumes
An 11-month-old baby has died from inhaling paraffin fumes at Braamfischerville in Soweto.
The baby’s caregiver Vivian Sagole spoke to Jacaranda FM News on Monday, ahead of Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba's visit.
Mashaba visited Braamficher amid an almost two-month long power outage in the area.
Community members have blamed the lack of electricity over a transformer that was destroyed, but the city has attributed it to Eskom shutting down areas due to non-payment.
Speaking in seSotho, Sagole said the infant, who was under her care, was admitted at the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital in Johannesburg on Thursday.
She later died on Saturday.
Segole says the infant chest was blocked after inhaling paraffin, which the family relied on for energy.
#SowetoElectricity An emotional Vivian Sagole says the 11 month old baby she looked after, fell sick last week Thursday and subsequently passed on Saturday. She says the death was a result of 'too much paraffin' inhaled. pic.twitter.com/U5PmvsPVT4
— Jacaranda News (@JacaNews) July 15, 2019
Mayor Herman Mashaba also visited Sagole's home, where he had to cut the visit short to go and engage with Eskom.
He told community members that he'd be going to Eskom to ask that they reconnect affected residents as soon as possible.
Mashaba engaged senior Eskom members on Monday on ways to resolve the issue.