Boy (9) drowned

The grade four learner of Hendrina Primary School, Sifiso Klaas Mlotha, is one of eleven victims in the province reported to have drowned since 4 March.

“He and a friend went to a maize field about 25km away from home. Its was just after 15:00 when I received a call from the police to rush over to where his body was found,” his bereaved father, Dingaan, told the Observer.

“I couldn’t understand how he ended up in the gully. I thought that someone had pushed him. I then went inside the water myself to investigate how deep it was and couldn’t go in far before the bottom dropped,” says Mr Mlotha.
Spokesperson of Hendrina SAPS, w/o David Mbenekazi, said the flooding caused an overflow in the Cosmos Dam, resulting in a deep gully.

“A total of 12 people, including motorists whose vehicles were swept away by flood water, were rescued the SAPS water wing,” Colonel Leonard Leonard Hlathi said.

Sifiso is survived by his father, mother Zanele and sister Sibulelo (4).

bridget@mobserver.co.za