Explosion severely injures loyal electrician

The community of Ermelo have been left in a state of shock after Mr Hannes Meyer, an electrician at Msukaligwa Municipality’s Electrical Department, was severely injured while working at a substation on the corner of Ennis and Fourie Streets last week.
   Mr Meyer, who had been celebrating his 43th birthday, and other Electrical Department employees were working at the substation at approximately 10:00 on Friday, 27 May, as Ermelo’s power had been tripping since the day before.  Apparently Mr Meyer touched a live cable inside the substation and an explosion happened.  Mr Meyer was rushed to Ermelo Medi-Clinic, where he was stabilised by Dr Linkie Theron and Dr Francois Swart.  After he was stabilised, Mr Meyer was taken to Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg by a Life Care Response ambulance.  According to the doctors at Milpark, Mr Meyer sustained third degree burns on 60-70% of his upper body.  He was sedated to a coma and is being kept in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).  There is also a problem with his lungs and the doctors are trying to keep it functional, but they are firstly focussing on the external burns and saving his life.  Mr Meyer’s wife, Elsabé, and his two children, Esmerelda and Enrico, are currently undergoing trauma counselling at the hospital in Johannesburg.
   According to Mr Mandla Zwane of Msukaligwa Municipality, the explosion happened at the back of the panels in the substation while Mr Meyer was busy with the switching and isolation procedures.  Mr Zwane stated that Mr Meyer investigated the problem the previous day (Thursday) and found a cable fault on a cable feeding the substation.  According to Mr Zwane, Mr Meyer was issued with correct testing equipment and clothing, but whether Mr Meyer was wearing his safety gear at the time of the accident, is part of the meticulous investigation by the Department of Labour.  The municipality sends their condolence to Mr Meyer and his family and wishes him a full and speedy recovery.
   According to reliable source who spoke to the Tribune on the day of the accident, the accident would not have occurred had the electrical cable logbook at the municipality had been properly managed.  “If new cables are installed or if cables are changed, it should be recorded in the logbook and the head of the .  If it was recorded, Hannes would have know which cables were live.  He apparently also had not testing equipment, as he would have tested if the cable was live if he had the correct equipment.  According my personal experience, the municipality’s cable tester for 11Kv and for high tension lines, is broken.  He was also not wearing a ‘flashpack’ to protect him against an explosion, as the municipality only has one ‘flashpack’ and Hannes was apparently not issued with one,” the source said.
   According to the source, who also worked at Msukaligwa Municipality, the last time any maintenance was done on high tension lines, was in 1994, and the source sends out a warning that more such incidents will happen, if maintenance is not done.
   While Mr Meyer is fighting for his life, Ermelo residents have been left in the dark as power in large areas of Ermelo was off from the day of the incident.  The municipality is currently working on the problem, but by yesterday (Monday, 30 May) some residents were still without power.