An eight-year-old girl shocked to death while playing with her younger sister in a field near her home.
It is believed that little Chantelle Matthews stepped on a live open wire, left by people making illegal electrical connections at nearby hostels.
Her seven-year-old sister Chante’s hands were burnt as she tried to save her.
The tragic incident occurred in Hillside, Grabouw, on Sunday afternoon.
Chante’s little fingers
Heartbroken mom Abigail Matthews, 27, says she arrived on the scene to find her daughter still alive and breathing.
“I held her and could feel her spirit going out of her body. She died in my arms and I could not do anything. They have killed my child with these illegal connections,” she cries.
Chantelle passed away before the ambulance could arrive.
Abigail says Chante suffered electrical burns on both her hands after trying to pull Chantelle away from the wire.
Mom Abigail Matthews, 27, of Grabouw. Pictures: Velani Ludidi
“Chante says Chantelle was catching the ball and then she fell, and then she saw her sister’s body rukking and heard her make strange guttural sounds,” says the mother.
“She tried to pull her sister away and was shocked too.”
An emotional Chante says: “If I was stronger I could have saved my sister.”
Abigail adds: “There is no need for illegal connections as people can ask for electricity from the houses here and use proper electrical wires. Just last week, a cow and a dog died after stepping on the same wires which are on the ground.”
The single mother says she doesn’t know how they will bury her child as she is unemployed.
On Monday when the Daily Voice visited the scene, the open wires were still visible on the grass close to where the sisters were playing.
Mom Abigail Matthews, 27, of Grabouw. Video: Velani Ludidi
Ward committee member Christina Absalone says illegal krag connections are a problem.
“It is people from the hostels who are doing it and the person was asked to take the wire higher up but he did not do anything about it and left it lying on the ground,” Absalone.
Last month in Strand, a 10-year-old boy was also shocked to death by open live wires used to make illegal power connections.
Police spokesperson Sergeant Noloyiso Rwexana says an inquest docket has been opened for investigation with no arrests so far.
velani.ludidi@inl.co.za