A visually impaired woman in Buffalo City Metro died as a result of illegal electricity connections in Jamaica informal settlement on Monday morning.
Nelly Pretorius, 56, was found dead near an illegally connected wire leading from an electricity pole into several shacks.
Her devastated niece, Alicia Motin, on Monday told of how she found her aunt with wires on her body still burning when she arrived at the scene.
Motin said: “We do not know yet what really happened. But when I arrived here in the morning she was already dead.
“She was found by people who were going to work in the morning,” she said.
“One of them knows us and she called me.
“She was lying on her back with her hands on her chest and the wires were still burning.
“The police refused to pick up the body because they were scared. They said whoever touches the body could also be shocked.
“We last saw her alive when she was attending a funeral on Saturday and my brother saw her on Sunday buying food at the spaza. He actually shared a joke with her, not knowing it was our last moment with her.
“My aunt had an eye problem. She could not see properly in one eye.”
She said a man had been electrocuted and had died in the area two years ago.
Neighbour Nwabisa Hate said: “My uncle was going out to throw water and he came across a dead body. She was wet because it was drizzling a bit. The dead lady used to be assisted when walking through to her shack. The electricity problem is big in our area.
“The children are more in danger because they play around these illegal connections.”
East London police spokesperson WO Hazel Mqala said the police had opened an inquest docket...