A FORM One pupil died in Bulawayo yesterday after he was
electrocuted by overhead power cables while fetching lemons from a tree to
season mealie-meal porridge.
Prince Mafu of Emakhandeni suburb died instantly and was
stuck on a mango tree until personnel from ZESA switched off power for him to
be brought down. The mango tree that he
had climbed is next to a lemon tree and both are directly under a power line.
His mother, Ms Elizabeth Mbele, who is expecting her fourth
child, got into premature labour as she failed to contain her sorrow on the
death of her child.
Prince’s family narrated how they witnessed him being
consumed by the high voltage electricity and described the horror of watching
smoke coming out of his burning body.
“We literally saw him getting burnt to death. The
electricity consumed him while we watched. We were helpless. We could not do
anything. He was too high up in the trees and neighbours called for ambulances
and police but it was too late.
“I have been procrastinating trimming the trees. We are
tenants at this house so the landlord comes once in a while and he had advised
us to find someone who could cut the trees for us. It is sad,” said Mrs
Sithokozile Mbele, his grandmother.
“The long wire he was using was not stable. It was going back and forth and the ripe
lemons are now higher up the tree. So he climbed a mango tree which grows next
to the lemon tree and got to the top. Somehow he failed to control the wire and
it came into contact with the power cables. There is a transformer outside our
yard,” said Mrs Mbele.
Neighbours described Prince as an obedient child who
respected the elderly in his community.
“It pains us to see such a wonderful and well brought up
boy die like this. These days so many youths are disrespecting elders and
engaging in the unthinkable, but for such a good boy to go in such a painful
way, I wonder why. This is a tragedy for the whole community as Prince was
everyone’s child. Children nowadays are problematic but as a boy we watched him
help his grandmother with cleaning duties such as mopping and polishing floors,
laundry and most of all gardening. He loved to tend his garden,” said a
neighbour who identified himself as Mr Moyo.
Mrs Mbele described her grandchild as a hardworking, intelligent
and obedient child.
“He had not gone to school yesterday as he has outstanding
school fees balance and was avoiding the embarrassment of being sent back home
for non payment. My grandson was my blessing. He did everything around the
house without complaining. As you can see on this wire, this black waxy stuff
are chunks of his flesh which got burnt and got stuck on it,” said Mrs Mbele
When the Chronicle arrived at the scene, his body had been
taken to the United Bulawayo Hospitals.
“While he was up the tree, his uncle was telling him to get
off as he had picked enough lemons to flavour the porridge. However, we did not
know it was his last day.
“After he got electrocuted, we only saw smoke coming from
his hands and feet as they were on fire. He froze in that position and got
stuck in the tree. Ambulances, fire brigade and police rushed to the scene. The
ambulance crew left as they said he had died instantly,” said Mrs Mbele.
The fire brigade could not remove the boy as power lines
were still live and his body could electrocute anyone who came into contact
with it as the metal hook he was using was still stuck to the power cables.
Chronicle
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