Latest Money Grab Scheme

Recently there was an update with regard to safety regulations with electric fences in South Africa. Most business and residential properties use electric fences to protect their perimeters as a deterrent plus they have an independent alarm that is triggered when the circuit is broken.

The idea of making a crime deterrent safer has you wondering safer for who being the person climbing over the fence or the home or business owner. I am always skeptical when I see this type of stuff as virtually everyone has one. This has been the case for more than 30 years and why the sudden need for change in regulating this industry.

For those of you who have been zapped by an electric fence it is not that bad and we have all played games. If you hold or touch someone and then touch the fence it will shock them and not you as the current passes through you and zaps them. The electric fence is only a deterrent and will not guarantee your safety, but is the first line of defense.

Now apparently we need to have our fences signed off by a regulator who will provide you with a certificate of compliance and these need to be checked and signed off annually. Monthly inspections are part of the requirements which will allow you to receive your certificate annually. This is nothing more than a money grab and our electric feces do not need to be regulated. The security firms will no doubt add this checking of the fence as part of their monthly service bill which we already pay and this will be more costly. Who knows this may fall onto the electricity department and we will receive a proper billing when in theory they would be adding this service to their meter reading.

I am not sure what the legal limit is for live current flowing through the wires as installers handle that side of things, but the fences are not deadly. I would rater climb over an electric fence than a razor wire fence with spikes as common sense would tell you that is more dangerous. I would love to be able to use deadly force on my fence by upping the amps, but that would be against the law.

I have no more warning signs up on my fence and found one lying in the garden. This is more of an advert without "DANGER" so I will no doubt have to get some new ones at some point.

The law currently states that warning signs have to be displayed every 10 m along the fence with the new law stating additional signage on the corers of the property plus the the main gate. Who are these signs for as we can all see the fence?

The electric fence needs to be earthed according to the new regulations which I am sure they are already otherwise we would be shocked every time we touched the boundary wall or gate.

Ironic that these fences are to keep criminals out and now we are literally dealing with health and safety so we do not kill the criminals. From my understanding you have to pay a government controlled department to have a license in order to issue COC certificates so this is generating income for the government by fleecing those who are already over taxed. We know the government is desperate to raise the tax coffers as so many tax payers have already left the country, but this is madness.