By Anita Dangazele
- Two young siblings drowned in a water-filled hole next to a reservoir because there was no safe place to swim.
- The tragedy has exposed how township children lack proper facilities for recreation and play.
Two young children drowned in a water-filled hole in Kariega because they had nowhere else to swim on a hot day.
Little Iviwe Zakumba, 3, and his sister Botwelethu, 7, died after falling into the deep hole next to a reservoir in KwaNobuhle township.
The tragedy happened because there are no proper swimming places for township children, say angry community members.
Police spokesperson Captain Janse van Rensburg said people heard children crying for help on Monday evening.
“At 6.30pm, community members heard screams from children in distress at the dam,” said van Rensburg.
“On arrival, the community found the little boy, Iviwe Zakumba.”
Their father rushed Iviwe to Laetitia Bam Hospital, but doctors could not save him. Police divers later found his sister Botwelethu’s body in the hole.
The hole was left by contractors who had worked on the reservoir. It filled up with rainwater, and access was possible because vandals had stolen the gate.
The grieving family has asked for privacy.
Community activist Thamsanqa Nkevu blamed the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality for the children’s deaths.
“This speaks to facilities, including the non-existent sports fields at schools. Those kids swam in that pond because they were looking to cool off, just like other children do when they go to the beach,” he said.
The township’s only swimming pool at the multipurpose centre was vandalised years ago. Local playgrounds are now overgrown with tall grass.
The municipality did not respond when asked to comment.
Pictured above: The Kwanobuhle reservoir dam where the Zakumba siblings drowned on Monday afternoon.
Source: Supplied
