Illegal electricity connections at Nompumelelo Informal Settlement in East London have resulted in the destruction of over 45 homes and a loss of life. The death of a disabled pensioner this week is the second fatality in two weeks that can be linked to illegal connections.
A similar fire destroyed 25 homes in July last year. More than a hundred people have been left destitute.
They lost most of their documents including ID’s while the children lost school uniforms and their books. “We have nothing at all. We escaped without ID’s, birth certificates, children without school uniforms and books. I myself have no clothes and my neighbours assisted me,” says resident Lungiswa Bhontsi.
Phumela Gqamlane also lost her belongings. “This is not the life we voted for. We voted to live in better conditions. Now we don’t know why we voted when we live in these conditions, where we’ll be sleeping and a fire starts and destroys our homes – putting at risk the lives of our children.”
This is an issue that the municipality is struggling to deal with. Buffalo City Metro Spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya says the municipality has since resolved to embark on a program of electrifying informal settlements to avoid such eventualities.
“As the municipality we’ve taken a decision to roll out a program of electrifying shacks. We are in that program currently right now so that people are not at risk as in such a situation and also we are trying to make sure that our housing program kicks in so that people don’t find themselves in situations where they try to connect electricity illegally in their shacks.”
People have been advised to leave donations such as food and clothing items in any Buffalo City Metro office. The municipality has set aside R10 million for the electrification of shacks in the metro. The metro has also set aside R259 million for the construction of 29 human settlements projects over the next three years.
