Inquest holds City to blame
Magistrate points finger at municipality after child’s electrocution death.
THE presiding magistrate at the inquest of Danielle Lucas (5), who died on 29 June last year after being electrocuted at a residential complex in
Richards Bay, has recommended that the uMhlathuze Municipality be prosecuted.
After hearing submissions from all parties involved, Magistrate BH Mtshali has submitted his record of proceedings at the Richards Bay District Court to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
In it, he states his findings as: ‘The death was brought about by uMhlathuze Municipality by omitting to attend to the electrical cables which were exposed to the ground (unearthing)’.
Grade R pupil Danielle was shocked to death after touching a live electrical cubicle ‘cage’ at Ocean Rest flats in Arboretum.
This followed an incident the previous day when another young girl was pulled free from the same live structure while being severely burnt by the current.
It was later determined that the root of a tree growing near the cubicle had pushed a cable onto the metal frame of the box, gradually eating through the insulation until it made full contact and rendered the metal cage live.
The DPP will now decide whether to prosecute the municipality.
Yes, a life has been lost through negligence and lack of maintenance . The municipality needs to be prosecuted .This should NEVER have happened .