Low-Hanging Wire Kills South African Teenager, Netizens Heartbroken

• A South African teenager died after he was exposed to a low-hanging live wire in his neighbourhood
• The young boy was on his way to cut grass for a customer when his grass-cutter got caught in the wire, killing him
• The community was heartbroken as they allegedly reported the cables to Eskom, but Eskom did not act on the complaints

With nine years of experience, Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist, provided insights into infrastructure challenges in South Africa at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News.

SOUTH AFRICA – A teenager died after he was cutting grass, and the machine he used came into contact with live wire. The community was heartbroken and claimed they reported the wires to Eskom to no avail.

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Live-wire kills teenager

According to SowetanLIVE, the ward councillor of the area where the child died claimed that they had had multiple meetings with Eskom about the electricity issues the community faced. These included the exposed wires and a transformer stolen from a substation.

Neo Msimanga, the teenager who died, allegedly cut grass to raise funds to pursue a tertiary education. His father said that he wanted to be a police officer. It's believed that Msimanga was on his way to cut grass at another house when the machine touched the live wire, killing him.

His death saddened the country

The young man's sudden and unexpected death hurt South Africans on Facebook.

Musa Musasa said:

"Government hesitates in service delivery until the worst incident happens."

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Ramatee Ranala said:

"Eskom, like the ANC, takes time to respond to serious issues. They would wait until a life is lost."

MJ Lebetsa said:

"He was still very young."

Sibusiso Encore said:

"May he rest in peace. To be honest, at times, we, the community, destroy infrastructure."

Lonwabo Manzi said:

"Sue them millions of dollars."

Roodepoort man dies after he was electrocuted at substation

Similarly, Briefly News reported that a Roodepoort man died when he was electrocuted at a substation. The man was allegedly trying to steal cables at the substation.

City Power officials arrived on the scene and found his body burnt beyond recognition. South Africans reacted to his death.

Source: Briefly News