Kid dies stepping on illegal live wire

A five-year-old local girl was electrocuted on Monday.

The incident happened a few months after residents of the Mbamba Mecisi settlement near Tzaneen vowed to continue to connect electricity illegally.

The young girl had stepped on an exposed live wire lying on the street.

Police spokesperson Inspector Seth Magadzi said the child was on her way home after her parents sent her to borrow a wheelbarrow from another family in the village. The victim was taken to a health centre where she was certified dead on arrival.

This brings to three the number of children who have been electrocuted in the area since last year.

The latest victim was identified as Mpho Mailula.

Hundreds of residents at the settlement have vowed not to stop illegal connections until the Greater Tzaneen municipality connected electricity to their homes.

Eskom spokesperson Khutisi Ramotlou has warned residents to stop connecting electricity illegally - or else similar incidents would continue to claim lives.

Police have opened an inquest docket.