Cape Town – Build One South Africa (BOSA) leader Mmusi Maimane has threatened to take legal action against the government after a three-year-old girl reportedly died after the inverter powering her breathing machine ran out of charge as a result of load shedding in Johannesburg.
According to the Randburg Sun, the girl died on Thursday in her mother’s arms.
Neyamiah James suffered from a rare neurodevelopmental disorder called Woree Syndrome which causes drug-resistant epilepsy and global developmental delay.
The family from Bromhof had rushed to hospital after the inverter keeping Neyamiah’s breathing machine on, ran out of charge. The baby girl was using a backup cylinder for oxygen but was having trouble with this, the report said.
“I tried to nebulise her with a backup battery-operated nebuliser which I had just gotten the day before. It brought her some comfort and she was stable,” the mother Sunera said of load-shedding in the early hours of the morning.
“Lights were restored around 04:15, we put her back on the concentrator she was fine then boom at 08:00 on the dot we go off for maintenance. She started struggling again and my husband and I rushed her to the hospital. She died on the way in my arms. The cylinder was running low and the refill wouldn’t get here on time,” the report quoted the grieving mother, Sunera James, as saying.
ALSO READ | EFF slams Gordhan’s ‘inhumane’ decision to challenge load shedding exemption ruling
James believed that prolonged load shedding might have contributed to her daughter’s deteriorating condition. However, she acknowledged that Neyamiah also had a pre-existing rare condition, News24 reported.
She recalled that the night before Neyamiah passed away, she seemed perfectly fine, awake, happy, and behaving normally. However, everything changed when she began experiencing difficulties with her breathing.
“My heart is broken. My home feels empty, my child is gone, and I am still shocked. We have not been able to live properly because of load shedding. Our entire lives had to revolve around the structure of this on and off load shedding nonsense,” James said.
Following Neyamiah’s death, Maimane has announced his intention to take up the family’s case and pursue a culpable homicide charge against the state due to alleged negligence.
His party is calling for an immediate end to load shedding and urging the government to adhere to a court directive demanding uninterrupted electricity supply to public hospitals, schools, and police stations.
“She (Neyamiah) is just one of so many South Africans who die as a result of load shedding. I’ll soon be taking action against the government, particularly Minister Pravin Gordhan, the Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho “Sputla” Ramokgopa, including the president about them being in contempt of court.
“The court ordered them to put hospital facilities on energy, on alternative energy. They are opposing it and they want to fight us in court. This is not the South Africa that we want to live in and so we will continue this fight.
“I’ll soon be meeting with the police to make sure there is a case against them because South Africa does not deserve a government that will allow citizens to die… We don’t need to have load shedding,” said Maimane.
These ministers are spending millions to make sure their houses have generators and babies are dying in hospitals because of load shedding. pic.twitter.com/XuhgP89yJo
— Mmusi Maimane (@MmusiMaimane) May 27, 2023
‼️Urgent media statement ‼️
Build One South Africa @BuildOneSA is enraged and heartsore at the news that a 3 year old girl from Bromhof, Johannesburg, has lost her life due to the rank failure of this ANC government to provide electricity to its citizens.
After taking advice… pic.twitter.com/VrUFZHrNnZ
— Mmusi Maimane (@MmusiMaimane) May 27, 2023
Follow African Insider on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Picture: Twitter/@Am_Blujay
For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com
Compiled by Betha Madhomu
