Lawley electrification turns thief into a community builder
10 May 2016
Koena Dithakong is still haunted by the sight of the charred remains of his friend.
Teboho Nchoba was electrocuted in front of his very eyes while they were both illegally connecting electricity in the Lawley Station informal settlement in the City of Johannesburg’s Region G a few years ago. Nchoba was 28 years old when he died.
Even though the incident took place those years ago, Dithakong still finds it difficult to share the tragic story with anyone. Months of counselling did not help as Dithakong still wakes up in cold sweat in the dead of the night, thinking about his friend and how he succumbed to his wounds in one of those deadly escapades.
Dithakong had been invited by Nchoba to come and live with him in the Lawley Station informal settlement after he (Dithakong) was retrenched by a cross-border trucking company in Boksburg on the East Rand. He later erected a shack in the informal settlement and asked his family to join him from the Free State.
“My friend and I survived by illegally connecting fellow residents to the power grid. We mostly got the power supply from street lights,” says the 39-year-old father of four.
After his friend’s tragic death, Dithakong completely turned his back on the illegal business and slipped into a dark alley of heavy drinking characterised by nightmares. He almost lost it. He says prayer, counselling and family support helped him pull through.
“Fortunately, I am good with my hands. Although God didn’t give me the brains to read big books, he ensured I was able to earn a living using these hands,” says Dithakong.
It was probably because of this strength that his name was put forward by community members when City Power, the City of Johannesburg’s electricity utility, moved into the area a couple of months ago to electrify the informal settlement and needed local labour to help it undertake the project.
Dithakong got involved in the R79-million electrification project as part of a local co-operative that had won a Jozi@Work package to assist City Power in giving power to the people. Instead of connecting electricity illegally, Dithakong now found himself as part of a team that was ensuring that all 1 500 households in the informal settlements received power cleanly and legally.
He was present when Johannesburg Executive Mayor Councillor Parks Tau and City Power Managing Director Sicelo Xulu presided over a ceremony to mark the big switch-on last week. He even shook their hands, a sign that he had made a clean break with his dark and dangerous past. He had, in more ways than one, seen the light.
“Modimo o teng, ntate (God is watching over me, man). I know my kids won’t sleep on an empty stomach,” he said.
In his State of the City Address last week, Mayor Tau said the City had electrified 15 informal settlements, including the Lawley Station one – with another six expected to be completed before the end of the current five-year term. Others that have been electrified include Sejwetla, near Alexandra, in Region E and Thembelihle, near Lenasia, in Region G.
Houses are connected to a prepaid system, boast solar water heating and use gas to cook.
“The electrification of Lawley will go a long way in restoring the dignity of the residents of this area. This project will further ensure that Lawley residents can, for the first time, harness the transformative power of electricity,” said Mayor Tau.
“As we approach the winter season, residents living in informal settlements such as Lawley often perish from devastating fires caused by hazardous cooking and heating appliances. We hope that the electrification of Lawley will ensure that the community is spared from these tragic incidents and will help reduce incidents of opportunistic crime that occurs under the cover of darkness.”
Xulu said that the project would help reduce illegal electricity connections and assist in preventing load-shedding when the grid takes strain from overloading in the cold winter months.