Enoch Mpianzi’s family was asked to provide their own life jacket
His parents said they were not worried about not being able to afford the life jacket as they had assumed the water activities would be taking place in a controlled environment and knew their son could swim.
Julie Habedi speaks to The Citizen next to the Crocodile River in North West were a Parktown Boys High School student was found dead during a school initiation, 17 January 2019. Picture: Nigel Sibanda
After having borrowed R800 so that their son, Enoch Mpianzi, could go on a school trip with his fellow students at Parktown Boys’ High School, his parents were expected to also purchase the life jacket that their son would have used during the planned water activities on the school trip.
Sunday Times reports that the unemployed refugees were not too worried about not being able to afford the life jacket as they had assumed the water activities would be taking place in a controlled environment and knew that their son knew how to swim as he had learned to do so in a pool.
Mpianzi was last seen on Wednesday when a makeshift raft he and other boys were on overturned on the Crocodile River while they were attending the camp at Nyati Bush and Riverbreak near Brits in North West.
News24 previously reported that the Grade 8 group arrived at the lodge on Wednesday and took part in a water activity that involved building their own rafts, according to North West police spokesperson Colonel Adele Myburgh.
The pupils were divided into groups of between five and six and took to the water on their self-built rafts. Some boys, among them Enoch, fell from their raft and scrambled to get back on to it.
Previous reports stated that he was found to be missing during roll-call on Thursday morning.
This was, however, later contradicted by a boy who was seated next to 13-year-old Mpianzi while they were en route to their Grade 8 orientation camp.
According to Mpianzi’s family, this young boy was the first to raise the alarm that Enoch was missing after the boys had returned from the activity.
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(Compiled by Kaunda Selisho)
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