Social development MEC visits family of Diepsloot flood victim
DIEPSLOOT - MEC for Social Development, Nandi Mayathula-Khoza, visited the Diepsloot family of the six-year-old flood victim, Angel Sibanda, on 1 March.
The little girl was swept away by floods while walking home from school in Diepsloot.
“We are very saddened by what happened in the community as a life was lost and a young child’s future has now vanished. We are here to send condolences to her family,” Mayathula-Khoza said.
Sibanda’s body was found by a fisherman trapped in rubble in the Jukskei River on 28 February. After the fisherman alerted police, the diving unit arrived on the scene and retrieved the body.
Sibanda passed away after attempting to cross a low-lying bridge with three other girls during the heavy rainfall on 25 February. Two of the girls were allegedly saved by community members while the third girl was rescued from the raging torrent by Diepsloot police officers, Constable Collen Lebyane and Constable Albert Ngobeni. However, Sibanda could not be found and police and emergency services conducted a search over four days until her recovery on 28 February.
Community members say that the stream, which carried Sibanda away after a heavy downpour, is commonly used by community members to cross over. The stream becomes flooded when heavy rains occur and poses a danger to children crossing it with no assistance.
“We, as the government, need to… [implement] the necessary steps to follow in order to help curb this situation from happening again. The immediate solution is that parents need to assist their children when heavy rains occur and community members should also raise awareness about floods in the area,” Mayathula-Khoza explained.
The funeral for Sibanda will be on 6 March. The family has asked the government to contribute to funeral and burial costs.
“The family would be happy if the stream leading to the low-lying bridge was solved by the constructing of a pedestrian bridge over the stream, as this will help that no other child loses their life due to floods in the area [sic],” Mayathula-Khoza concluded.
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