Letter: Over 20 people drown in less than two months
More than 20 people have drowned in rivers and dams across Limpopo in less than two months.
South African, Media Liasion Officer, writes:
More than 20 people have drowned in rivers and dams across Limpopo in less than two months.
From the beginning of October to date, the police have recorded 20 incidents of inquests resulting from drownings, with the number of victims counting more than the incidents.
Members of the South African Police Service Search and Rescue Team have their hands full attending to numerous calls of drownings in all five districts of the province.
The latest incidents involved the drownings of two school learners at different locations in the policing precinct of Tubatse under the Sekhukhune-district.
According to police statements a 12-year-old boy, Thabiso Madire, from Praktiseer outside Burgersfort drowned when he jumped into the Tubatse river on Wednesday, 23 November. His body was retrieved by members of the Police’s Search and Rescue Unit several kilometers from where he first went into the river.
On Saturday 26 November, the same team managed to retrieve the body of an 18-year-old boy, Gift Mitchel, from the Olifants river under Tubatse policing precinct, 48 km from where he was swimming with his friends.
Another incident occurred at Vhulaudzi outside Makhado after the police received a report of a drowning incident. Members of the rescue team were dispatched to the scene and upon arrival, they retrieved a decomposed body believed to be the body of an 11-year-old girl that was reported missing.
The body that was found had clothes matching the description of the missing girl. Investigations have already begun to determine the conclusive identity of the deceased and the circumstances of her demise.
Several pastors and congregants have also reported drownings after performing religious baptisms in rivers, streams, and dams at different locations in the province.
The Provincial Commissioner of Police in Limpopo. Lt Genl Thembi Hadebe, has called on communities to be wary of rivers and dams as persistent rains have probably raised dam levels and rivers might be flooding.
He said that the rescue unit is currently stretched to the limit as reports of drownings are received almost every day. He asked citizens to approach rivers and dams with extreme caution.
