THE police inquest into the death of a nine-year-old boy who was strangled earlier this month at a newly constructed windmill in the Dubeni area near Melmoth, has yielded no results.
It is believed the boy was caught in a rotating mechanism as he attempted to drink water which had been pumped to the surface.
Spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Lelethu Manetsa confirmed the department was in the process of drilling boreholes to alleviate the drought in the area, but denied the boy’s death was a result of negligence during the structure’s construction.
‘Officials spoke to the community and they were informed of the construction. There were no anomalies with installation of the windmill,’ said Manetsa.
‘Children must be taught that structures like these are not playthings; cases like these are a result of negligence from adults not being aware of what children are doing.’
However, initial reports from sources who wished to remain anonymous contradict the department’s statement, insisting the boy was not climbing the windmill and was caught instead by the lower mechanisms of the windmill on the ground which had been left exposed as part of the structure was still under construction.
The exact circumstances surrounding the boy’s death remain unclear, and SAPS spokesperson for Empangeni, Captain Mbongeni Mdlalose said while police had received no further information on the matter, the inquest would continue.
