MOSSEL BAY NEWS - The African Christian Democratic Party in Mossel Bay this week expressed its dismay over the death of a child owing to an illegal electricity connection.

The child, a girl aged one, died from electrocution on 1 March.

In a media release on 14 March, the ACDP stated: "We express our condolences to the parents and family of the little girl."

The ACDP called on residents to make every effort to ensure their surroundings were safe for their children to play and move and that illegal connections were eradicated.

The party noted the following: Illegal connections constitute a danger to all who live in the area and as such should be immediately reported. They also cause overloading and this results in damage to electricity infrastructure. They increase the risk of fires.

It continued, stating that illegal connections cost residents of the town millions each year in direct costs such as the payments that are made to Eskom for usage but that were not recovered from the users.

"Often users that are connected illegally are wasteful in the manner in which they use electricity and this pushes up the loss to the municipality and residents of the town.

"These costs do not measure the inconvenience and cost to dutiful residents who pay for the availability of electricity and usage but are denied the use of a product for which they are paying but have daily power outages due to overloading," the statement read.

"Residents in affected areas are requested to immediately report illegal connections. The duty then rests with the Mossel Bay Municipality to ensure the connections are undone and that further access is restricted in some way. The ACDP urges the municipality to lay criminal charges against those who are stealing electricity."

It must also be noted, the ACDP stressed, that access to electricity - while not specifically mentioned as a human right such as access to housing, food and water - globally is regarded as a basic human right and an important contributor to socio-economic development.

"It is a critical component to the prosperity, safety and general well-being of every human being, as is evidenced by all of us during the prolonged periods of load shedding the country is experiencing."

The ACDP gave an example: "Although the South African Bill of Rights does not contain an explicit right for everyone to receive electricity, it is important to acknowledge that in 2009 the Constitutional Court – in the case of Joseph and Others v City of Johannesburg and Others – considered the question of whether individuals have a right to receive electricity.

"The Constitutional Court considered that electricity is an important basic municipal service and decided that local government had a constitutional and statutory obligation to provide it. Therefore, receiving electricity was declared to be a public law right.

"Although the Mossel Bay Municipality is currently engaged in ongoing Capital Projects to provide electricity to informal settlements, access is hampered where squatters are living on private land.

"This, however, has also been addressed by the courts where the City of Cape Town was ordered to purchase private land and provide services to informal homes."

The party concluded: "The ACDP is sympathetic to those residents, who like many of us, are trying to improve our living circumstances and job opportunities, but cannot condone the theft of electricity and the resultant life-threatening circumstances created by it."

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