Pretoria - Two young boys died after they drowned while swimming with their friends at Seshego Dam outside Polokwane in Limpopo on Saturday morning.
According to police spokesperson Colonel Malesela Ledwaba, Kotsema Ramaru, 9, and his friend 12-year-old-Kubu Mashilo, both from Zone 5 in the township, drowned while they were swimming and crossing the dam using white foam props as flotation devices.
He said: “The information at our disposal is that the boys were swimming and crossing the dam using white foam props as flotation devices, an occurrence which is said to be a usual practice in the area. The unfortunate situation happened when their ‘boat’ capsized in the middle of the dam and both boys drowned.”
He said police divers from the SAPS Search and Rescue team could only retrieve one of the bodies by Saturday afternoon. They resumed the search for the other boy, who is presumed to be dead, yesterday morning.
Provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Thembi Hadebe, has urged parents and guardians to take care of their children following the incident.
She said: “Parents are cautioned to ensure that their children do not engage in swimming activities unsupervised. They must be wary of this dam as several drowning incidents were reported in the area in the past.”
Drowning incidents are not a strange occurrence in Seshego and surrounding areas.
In November 2020, two young boys drowned in Blood River, Seshego, after they reportedly experienced difficulties while swimming, while a third boy was rescued and hospitalised.
Spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo previously said the dead Siyabonga Maepa, 12, and Thabiso Maepa, 9, and two other boys had left their homes without the knowledge of the elders, to go swimming in the nearby river.
“It is alleged that one of the boys reportedly withdrew when the other three jumped into the water. Shortly afterwards, he realised that they were drowning and ran home to get help. The community rushed to the site and managed to rescue one of the swimmers. The other two had already disappeared under the water.”
Last month a child drowned after jumping into a pool during a day visit at the Skukuza Camp of the Kruger National Park.
According to reports, the security officer in the park noticed the boy floating in the pool while doing his patrol and tried to resuscitate him but it was too late.
Pretoria News