WATCH: Case of culpable homicide opened against MMC

Since October 2020, the Manie Mulder Adventure Park has been highly publicised, and sadly not because of its beauty.

According to the Ward 83 councillor, Florence Roberts, 26 drownings have been recorded over the past five years from the waterfall in the centre of Roodekrans – five of those occurring within the last six months. Following the latest body recovery from the Manie Mulder waterfall on Sunday, 18 April, the Ward 83 councillor and her colleagues in the DA have decided that enough is enough.

Florence has brought this matter before the relevant council members as well as the current MMC for Community Development, Margaret Arnolds several times, and the lack of intervention has finally reached its peak. The ward councillor was joined by the Member of the Provincial Legislature (MPL) for safety, Nico de Jager, at the Roodepoort Police Station on Tuesday, 20 April to formally lay a charge of culpable homicide against MMC Arnolds. “It is the responsibility of the City to take care of its citizens, but clearly that is not happening,” Nico stated.

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To add to this, he said he will be taking the matter of the drownings to the provincial legislature in their first sitting and provide a members’ statement so that the matter is brought to the attention of provincial environmental officials.

“We know the drownings are accidental, but the lack of intervention from the Department of Community Development has led us to opening this case,” said Nico. Florence added that there is an urgent need for warning signs at the dam, properly equipped park rangers, and an education drive on water safety for the religious groups who use the water at the park.

The day before the case was opened, Florence and Nico were also at the station to find out the best way forward in opening the case, with the chairperson of the Roodekrans Neighbourhood Watch (RNW), Andreas Oberlechner at their side to provide a history of the drownings.

Also read: Death toll at Manie Mulder rises again

RNW has been heavily involved with not only conserving the park, but also working together with conservation groups to hire rangers to patrol the area. Andreas has been on scene at the majority of the body recoveries recently, so ensuring that the full story was told when opening the case was very close to his heart. He wanted to make sure that these pilgrim drownings receive the same enquiries and attention as child drownings would.

“It is a religious site; the pilgrims are of the belief that the water has sacred value. We respect their religion and we are not here to prevent anyone from practicing their religion,” said Nico. He did however say that the councillors and community cannot have people sneaking into the park in the middle of the night, falling into a dark hole that they can’t get out of, and drowning.

Florence added that their goal was to attempt to force the City into fencing off the area and putting the necessary security in place to protect the community. Previous attempts from the Record to attain comment from MMC Arnolds were met with our queries being forwarded to City Parks, which then claimed that this matter falls under Mogale City. While the boundary fence of Manie Mulder borders Mogale City, the park itself sits squarely in Roodepoort. “Whether it is a dual responsibility is for the two municipalities to resolve; we just want to stop the loss of life,” continued Nico.

The pilgrims seem to be entering the reserve illegally through the boundary fence, and while CoJ has promised to set up meetings with their neighbouring municipality to find solutions, Florence and Nico will no longer be taking ‘meetings’ as a viable response. “The last thing we need is another promise for a meeting and then a month from now, we have another death and another meeting. We need action, and if it takes the City being held liable, then so be it,” Nico added.

“Johannesburg residents deserve a caring administration which puts them and their safety first, and takes decisive action to prevent unnecessary deaths. We would like to encourage all those visiting the park for religious purposes to exercise extreme caution in and around the dam,” concluded Florence.

MMC Arnolds was contacted for comment following the last drowning, and while she has acknowledged receiving the questions, the Record is still awaiting response. As soon as one is received, an update will be posted.