Man pays with his life for stealing power
Kristy Kolberg
Alarge area of New Dawn Park in Pacaltsdorp was left without electricity after a man from Zone 8 in Thembalethu, Siposethu Netento, was shocked to death on Saturday 4 August.
Netento was allegedly attempting an illegal connection when the incident occurred near the bush in Bougainvillea Drive at approximately 16:10 that afternoon.
Disturbing video footage and photographs of Netento's burned body were circulated on social media platforms shortly after the incident. In it people are seen taking photos, one of them, a young boy, sitting next to the body and laughing while it appeared that the man's body was still convulsing.
According to George Municipal spokesperson Chantel Edwards-Close, Netento, who hooked a piece of standard wire over an 11KV bare overhead line, had run the wire across a ravine from New Dawn Park to an informal settlement, All Bricks in Thembalethu. "The bare wires ran knee-high through an area which is often used as a play area by children. The municipality strongly condemns such illegal connections as they not only pose a risk to the life of the person attempting the connection but also are of extreme danger to any child, adult or animal that could have walked into the area," she said.
Furthermore, she said, the illegal connections draw more electricity from the network than anticipated, which causes power failures and inconveniences lawabiding paying customers.
All tampering or electricity theft can be reported to the George electrotechnical offices on 044 801 9222 during office hours and on 044 801 6300 after hours.
According to Edwards-Close, the direct costs to the municipality for repairing the damage caused by such incidents amounts to approximately R10 000.