Johannesburg – A body of a 15-year-old from Soweto High has died after drowning in a dam in Fleurhof, Roodepoort, under strange circumstances.
Nhlanhla Ndlela’s lifeless body was found yesterday morning, following almost 12 hours of searching by members of the Joburg Emergency Management Services and the SA Police Service.
This is the second tragedy in two weeks in the city of Johannesburg.
The City was still shocked by the death of Khomanani Mawa(6), who passed away after falling inside a manhole in Orange Farm, in the south of Joburg.
The dams are said to be used mostly by sangomas and African spiritual churches for cleansing purposes.
Ndlela’s distraught father, Siphiwe Zondo, said Nhlanhla was the only son he had and it is hard to accept that he his no more, he was relieved that his body had been found.
“I am trying to remain strong but my heart aches. It’s been a two-day search. I was hopeful that we would find him alive the first day, but I knew the second day we would not be so lucky,” said Zondo.
The boy’s guardian, Themba Mathunjwa, his aunt, took care of him after his mother’s death in 2016.
She said Ndlela left with his six friends to go bird hunting.
“I knew something was wrong when his friends returned to my house without him- the scared and sad expressions on thier faces said it all. They arrived at 5 pm and told me they were swimming in the Blue Dam and could not find Nhlanhla when they got out.”
“I battled to understand the boys and asked one of the neighbours to hear what they were saying,” Mathunjwa said, adding that Nhlanhla could swim.
Emergency services and the police first conducted the search on Monday evening, and resumed the search again yesterday morning.
The search rescue team pulled the boy’s body from the water as family members stood by.
Police spokesperson Colonel Lefa Tsotetsi said an inquest docket had been opened with the Florida police ad the boy’s death was under investigation.
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