SHAKADZA – Messrs Reuben Mulanzi and Justice Miambo narrowly escaped death when the electricity line they were working on accidentally became live. They are employees of Roschon, a subcontractor to Eskom, and are replacing old electricity poles.

The incident happened at the rural village of Shakadza outside Thohoyandou on Thursday last week. They suffered serious burns and they were rushed to Shakadza Clinic from where they were immediately transferred to Donald Fraser Hospital, where their condition is improving.

An eyewitness to the incident, Given Mmbengwa (20) who stays at the same village, told Mirror that he saw one of the employees seriously burnt at the scene of the accident.

Mmbengwa continued: “I could not believe my eyes when I saw him hanging from the pole with his safety belts. His shoulder and other parts of his upper body were seriously burnt and I believe he was lucky to survive. Within a short space of time, many people gathered around the accident scene until he and his partner, who was trapped at another pole, were rushed to the local clinic for treatment…”

The Communication Practitioner of Eskom in the Thohoyandou Service Area, Mr Thiofhi Ratshitanga, said his company has started with a pre-liminary investigation into the accident.

“We will conduct the full formal investigation sometime next week to find out what exactly happened. We only know that the electricity accidentally came on while the employees of Roschon were busy working. A full report about the incident will be available as soon as the investigation is complete,” said Ratshitanga.