Emotions ran high on Tuesday at the family home of the two young KwaNobuhle children who drowned in a large water-filled hole next to the reservoir dam.
The father of the siblings, just three and seven years old, cried bitterly as he tried to recount what had transpired the previous day.
The brother and sister had gone to the nearby reservoir dam to cool off late on Monday afternoon, but instead of returning home for supper, their desperate cries for help sent the community into a frenzy.
After a gruelling search, their bodies were retrieved from the hole next to the dam which had filled up with water.
Police spokesperson Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg said it was the sound of the children screaming in distress that spurred residents into action.
They had immediately rushed to the dam situated on the corner of 10th and First Avenue, but it was too late.
She said the hole was next to the reservoir dam, where repairs were done a while back.
“At 6.30pm, community members heard screams from children in distress at the dam,” Janse van Rensburg said.
“On arrival, the community found the little boy, Iviwe Zakumba.”
She said the father arrived at the scene and rushed his son to Laetitia Bam Hospital. However, he was declared dead on arrival.
The body of the boy’s older sister, Botwelethu, was recovered a short while later by SAPS divers.
At his Hobe Street home, their distraught father, Xhanti Zakumba, wept.
All he could manage to say was that they were still awaiting the postmortem report.
“We are still discussing what happened.
“What we know is that the [postmortems] have been done, and after that, we will be [given more information].
“No-one suspects foul play,” he said.
Other family members at the house then urged him to refrain from speaking to the media.
The tension between family members mounted and the reporter and photographer were asked to leave.
Back at the scene of the tragedy, resident Simthembile Leeuw said he had warned children in the community several times not to swim in the dam or the hole next to it as it was dangerous.
He said the gate had been stolen some time ago, leaving the area open and accessible to anyone.
“The kids always swim here, and on [Monday] there were about nine kids.
“It is believed the drain sucked in two of the kids and they sadly drowned,” Leeuw said.
“No-one listened to me when I warned them.”
KwaNobuhle community activist Tamsanqa Nkevu said that according to his information, the siblings had been looking for a place to play and cool down given how hot it had been in the area on Monday.
Nkevu said the situation in KwaNobuhle had deteriorated to such an extent that children no longer had safe spaces in which to enjoy their childhoods.
“We’re not putting into place holistic spaces for our children to play.
“This speaks to facilities, including the non-existent sports fields at schools.
“Before, children could play at school, but those open fields are overgrown with grass and the reality is there are no spaces to play outside as playgrounds don’t exist.
“KwaNobuhle is a haven for crime, abductions and violence, which makes it nearly impossible for these kids to grow up free of these elements.
“These kids are meant to be chasing after soccer balls in soccer fields that don’t exist; they’re meant to be swimming at the KwaNobuhle multipurpose centre which has been vandalised and picked apart brick by brick.
“Those kids swam in that pond because they were looking to cool off, just like other children do when they go to the beach.”
Janse van Rensburg said an inquest docket had been opened.
The Herald
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