The Mocumi family in the North West says they lost everything because of rolling blackouts. Their house at the Tlakgameng village, near Vryburg, was razed by fire, which they allege, was sparked by rolling blackouts. The family is now staying in a backroom, uncertain whether or not Eskom will compensate them for their loss.

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Meshack Mocumi, the owner of the house, says he built the house for his family with his retirement savings in order to give the family comfort and security in his retirement.

Mocumi says his family escaped certain death, after being rescued by neighbours who noticed smoke coming from the house.

“It was load-shedding when my house burnt. It was on the 15th of July. The load-shedding started at 8. We switched everything off. We have power lights. We unplugged everything and went to sleep. Just around past ten when the electricity came back, we heard people breaking into the house. That is when my house was burning, and those people were helping us. Just when i swiftly left my bedroom, I saw fire. It was the electricity box burning,” Mocumi says.

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Their three children were pulled from the bedroom through windows. Their mother’s scars are evidence of their ordeal. Despite her injuries, Senwelo Mocumi is more worried, about whether of not, Eskom, will compensate them, for their losses.

“Eskom sent me a claim form on the 22nd of September. We have claimed and gave them everything, all the needed information. They took pictures of the house, I even gave them the certificate of the electrician who worked on the house more than ten years ago and we have never had electricity problems. Why did we start having this problem during load-shedding? Which led to the house burning,” said Mocumi.

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The incident has created fear in the community. They now see rolling blackouts not only as an inconvenience but as a possible danger to their lives.

Family loses everything in house fire allegedly sparked by load shedding: An Eastern Cape family of seven escaped with only the clothes on their backs after an explosion, allegedly caused by a power surge, set their house on fire pic.twitter.com/WyQHQfZGXe

— SA 911 Breaking (@JustdoitZee) September 16, 2022

“We are concerned about this load-shedding. It’s affecting us because we’ll end up homeless,” said one resident.

“This is heart-breaking, we are now worried. Especially after this house got burnt,” added another resident.

“Our lives are at a standstill because of load-shedding,” concluded another resident.

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Eskom undertook to investigate all claims related to rolling blackouts, but the power utility insists most incidents, affects mainly electric appliances.

“Eskom is willing and ready to help customers who allege that their homes burned as a result of load-shedding by thoroughly and meticulously investigating any claims brought to Eskom’s attention," Matsheng Baruti from Eskom North West says.

"The majority of the claims we are receiving are in respect of burnt or damaged appliances and equipment where customers allege that the cause is our electricity, in most of the cases, damaging appliances. And equipment damaged or banned by misuse of electricity and illegal activities.”

Increase of house fire incidents in Joburg during load shedding https://t.co/bf9KOhEJAP pic.twitter.com/6kdlzOQpAh

— The Saturday Star (@SaturdayStar) May 20, 2022

The Mocumi family, which lost everything in the fire, now, survive on hand-outs, from the community, while waiting to hear from Eskom.

SABC News