The Public Protector will investigate whether Sol Plaatje Municipality should be held liable for the death of an 11-year-old boy who drowned in a pool of water in Riemvasmaak, Galeshewe.
THE PUBLIC Protector will investigate whether Sol Plaatje Municipality should be held liable for the death of an 11-year-old boy who drowned in a waterhole in Riemvasmaak, Galeshewe.
The pool of water was created due to a major leak at Gogga pump station.
Onkarabetse Thole was accompanying his older brother Mosimanegape Mocholo and a group of friends to gather wood on September 11 when he jumped into the water to cool off.
He was swept into the middle of the pool of water while he pushed his older brother (Mocholo) away when he attempted to rescue him, to prevent him from drowning as well.
While the mayor’s office had promised to contribute to the funeral, the family rejected the offer of a pauper’s burial where Onkarabetse would have to be buried during the week. Funeral arrangements had already been made with a private undertaker to hold the burial on September 17.
The bereaved family indicated that the municipality had only made a donation of a few cabbages, two sheep, two kilograms of chicken and some maize.
Community members claimed that this was the eighth child to have drowned in the waterhole and that cattle had also drowned while drinking at the waterhole.
Public Protector provincial representative Mlungisi Khanya pointed out that following the drowning incident, no warning signs had been erected around the site.
“The area should be cordoned off to warn the community of the danger and depth of the water. If the municipality is indeed found to be negligent, a recommendation will be made to compensate the family for their loss through an insurance claim. This is the first drowning in this waterhole that has been reported to us for investigation,” said Khanya.
He added that they would also investigate why millions of rand were allocated from the municipal budget towards fixing leaks at Gogga pump station each year, yet no steps were taken to prevent massive water losses.
Khanya stated that they would prioritise the investigation and estimated that it should be completed within a space of six months.
Sol Plaatje Municipality spokesperson Thoko Riet explained that the area had been cordoned off with red warning tape and flat triangular steel poles, but these were stolen.
“The warning tape is removed by people walking past. The drowning was an unfortunate incident, which is highly regretted by the municipality, more so that it happened at a site belonging to the municipality. The municipality is not aware of other alleged drowning incidents at this site,” said Riet.
She indicated that a ditch had filled with water due to a leak and it was about 1.5 to two metres deep.
“The side of the valve chamber where the 965 millimetre bulk pipe runs is between 1.5 to 2.5 metres deep on the side of the scour valve.”
Riet added that the leak was previously attended to during previous water shutdowns. “However, due to the condition, age of the pipe and electrically induced current in the pipe and because of the high-voltage power lines and vandalised cathodic protection, leaks kept re-occurring at different weak spots of this section.
“The municipality has repaired more than six leaks in this area. There was an intention to repair this leak during the recent pipe burst incident, but due to time constraints and the magnitude of work to be done at this site the work was left for the upcoming planned water supply interruption from October 6-10.”
