Zandspruit is much cleaner compared to a few months ago when the area was on fire during service delivery protests. Main roads were blockaded with burning tyres‚ tree trunks and rubbish bins emptied on streets in a battle to get authorities to give them basic services‚ including electricity.Criminal charge laid against municipal officials over child's electrocutionAfriForum has laid complaints of murder and culpable homicide at the police station in Leandra against two employees of the Govan Mbeki Local Municipality in Mpumalanga following the death by electrocution of an eight-year-old girl. Almost a year later‚ even though the area is a lot calmer‚ the struggle is not yet over. As the Eskom National Safety Week kickstarts on Monday‚ Zandspruit is one the areas identified as having the highest number of illegal electricity connections.SA's worst 4 provinces for dangerous electricity connectionsThe major problem areas in South Africa for illegal electricity connections are the Eastern Cape‚ Gauteng‚ KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo provinces. As we walk through the small settlement‚ other issues catch our eye more than a network of illegally connected electricity cables over our heads.A strong stench from the running sewerage is unavoidable and‚ for a weekday‚ this area has more people walking around than what we saw at the local corporate centre a few kilometres back‚ an indication that unemployment is a serious problem.A group of Eskom officials and media are on a walkabout in the area to assess the extent of illegal electricity connections.A number of serious safety hazards are shown to us while we walk around‚ one being the overlying wires which look like the normal Eskom wires but thinner and dangerous."These things are very dangerous‚ you might look at it at now and think it’s just innocent but all it takes is just a single touch and you could be history‚" says Eskom's Nkosana Sibuyi.A number of small businesses including a car wash and a spaza shop seem to be relying entirely on the illegally connected cables to keep afloat.In addition to being one of the causes of loadshedding in the country‚ illegal electricity connections cost Eskom billions of rand annually.But Sibuyi says the main concern to the power supplier is the number of fatalities caused by it."We as Eskom are concerned with the lives of people which are put at risk by illegal connections. We get calls all the time about someone being killed by an overlying electricity cable or faulty connections. It is very concerning‚" Sibuyi added.The small settlement of Zandspruit is mostly populated by unemployed residents‚ who live below the poverty line. Sibuyi says the power supply has established a committee which is working closely with residents of the area to sort out matters affecting them...