Residents of informal Alex houses oblivious to electric hazard

A street in Alexandra township is lined with houses exposed to hazardous electrical infrastructure. The homes impede access for repairs during power outages, leaving thousands of residents in the dark for days.

TimesLIVE visited Lenin Drive in Far East Bank on Wednesday where 16 houses are situated among electrical infrastructure.

Locks hung from several front doors as most residents were at work. Those who were home were children who had just returned from school and were unaware of the danger around them.

One of the houses has an electric box in the bathroom right next to the toilet.

But a woman who lives in the street believes her house is safe.

“Nothing is wrong with my home. I don’t know what they are talking about. My house is not on an electrical line,” said the resident who wished to go by the name Inno.

A few metres down the road is a house with its front door next to a street light where there is meant to be a pavement.

And just below a high voltage pylon is debris from what used to be two houses.

The houses were demolished on Sunday by frustrated residents .

“One of the owners was taken in by a good Samaritan. The others, a woman and her children, are accommodated nearby,” ward 107 councillor Teffo Raphudu said.

He said the 16 homes left 8,000 residents in four areas without power for five days last week.

But what was saved was a renovated double-storey house on Shibobo Street built on top of City Power’s electrical network and other municipal infrastructure.

Owner John Mphahlele told TimesLIVE he is aware of the municipal infrastructure underneath his veranda but the house plan was approved by the municipality.

“My house is not above the electrical line. It is just the front, by the veranda, which is above the infrastructure. But I need to build a wall around this veranda and if they want to come and access the infrastructure, they are more than welcome to demolish the structure. They will then have to rebuild it,” he said.

Mphahlele, who lives with his wife and four children, seemed unaware of the hazards surrounding him. He told City Power officials on Wednesday he was within his right to build on the pavement.

“I can build here. This part is not municipal property. The municipality approved my plan. I have been building this house for two years now,” he said.

Meanwhile, the street's residents will have to seek other accommodation as the demolition process is expected to start soon.

TimesLIVE