The community of Flamingo Heights in Tongaat are reeling in anger while mourning the loss of yet another life due to exposed live wires from illegal electrical connections.
The deceased, 23-year-old Noelan Kisten, was found lying dead next to a v-drain on Saturday, 4 December. According to his family, Kisten, who worked at the King Shaka International Airport, was enjoying a relaxing Saturday when he decided to take a walk towards the Umbhayi Informal Settlement; an area his family said he does not frequent and is known to have illegal electrical connections with exposed, live current.
Kisten’s mother, Molly Kisten, said her son was a loving and well respected member of the community. “Everyone knew him and he always treated everyone in the community with respect. Someone from the informal settlement made the discovery and told the residents there was a dead body lying on the ground. When the neighbours identified that it was my son they phoned his aunty and me to give us the tragic news. Nobody is sure why he went that way but due to those illegal electrical connections an innocent life was lost.”
Molly said they waited for hours in the rain for her son to be taken by authorities. “The police took hours to arrive and carry out the necessary protocols but Reaction Unit arrived within minutes. It’s sad that we have to rely more on private security companies for assistance.”
She said the municipality should be blamed for this unnecessary loss of life. “The municipality knows about the problem. People have been complaining about it for years yet they are not doing much to help. Those in informal settlements have an electricity box allocated for them but they are still connecting illegally to residents’ power boxes and streetlights.”
Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA) was first to respond to the community’s cry for assistance. RUSA spokesperson, Prem Balram, said upon arrival the paramedics and officers found Kisten’s body on the ground and that he showed no signs of life and was declared deceased.
“According to witnesses, the man was walking along the path when he slipped. He allegedly grabbed onto a wire fence which became electrified due to exposed electricity cables making contact with the fence. He held onto the fence until he became unresponsive.”
Ward 61 Councillor, Dolly Munien, said the death was unacceptable. “The municipality needs to get their act together and make sure all illegal connections are removed. This is the third death in four years. Enough is enough. The municipality also needs to investigate how many people are living in the informal settlement and making sure that the settlement isn’t growing.”
EThekwini Municipality Spokesperson, Msawakhe Mayisela, said the City is dismayed to hear about the death. “The theft of electricity continues to be huge concern in both electrified and non-electrified areas within the city. This scourge has led to the loss of many lives, especially those of children. The City continues to fight this criminal activity.
“Our Electricity Department does have a structured programme for the electrification of informal households but finds it extremely difficult with the burgeoning of informal settlements, especially uMbhayi Informal Settlement which is not only the informal settlement closest to where this tragic incident occurred but is also a current hotspot for electricity theft. UMbhayi also happens to be the only informal settlement whose electrification is currently on hold due to RDP construction active on site.”
He said the settlement is overcrowded and illegal connections burden the electricity network which results in constant power outages, exposed live cables and has birthed a lot of tension between informal settlement households and paying customers. Such events have forced the Electricity Unit’s Revenue Protection Department to frequent the area for disconnections almost every second day. On the day of the incident a team had been there to disconnect illegal connections.
“We are also calling upon all our residents to be ambassadors against illegal connections. Residents are urged to report suspicion of cable theft and illegal electricity connections to our Contact Centre on 080-131-3111 (toll free) or alternatively email us on electricity.faults@durban.gov.za or call the South African Police Service on 10111.”
