A City of Cape Town electricity official, Terence Henry Stringer, has passed away after suffering injuries when severely vandalised cables exploded in Gugulethu.
According to the City, Stringer was attending to an outage in Gugulethu that was affecting power supply to Manenberg and Gugulethu areas.
The City said a section of the medium voltage cable had been excavated and set alight by criminals and Stringer and five other people were injured when the insulation of the damaged cables further deteriorated and caused an explosion.
Mayoral Committee Member for Energy, Councillor Beverley van Reenen, said that it is utterly devastating that a colleague’s life has been lost due to the impact of infrastructure vandalism while in the line of duty.
“He was part of an electricity team attending to damaged infrastructure caused by theft and vandalism to supply cables at the City’s Gugulethu Substation on Monday, 4 April Mr Stringer, four contractors, and a member of the public were injured when the insulation of the damaged cables further deteriorated and caused an explosion,” he said. Stringer passed away in hospital on Saturday, April 16.
He added that the man joined the City in 1993 and was one of the first employees to join the City’s Gugulethu Electricity Depot shortly after it was constructed as part of the City’s programme to bring services closer to the Manenberg and Gugulethu communities.
“Colleagues remember him for his commitment to his work and for always going the extra mile. In his spare time, he enjoyed carpentry and was always willing to share his woodwork expertise with colleagues when anything needed to be repaired. Between jobs, he often kept the Depot’s flower garden neat and tidy.
“The City has lost a valuable staff member and our thoughts are with his wife and family,” he said.
Residents are urged to stand with the City against the scourge of theft and vandalism by reporting it to the City and the police.
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Picture: CapeTown ETC