Families of dead boys want answers

Three weeks on, the families of two boys crushed to death by rolling stormwater pipes in Soweto are still waiting to hear of the circumstances leading to the young boys’ deaths.

Brian Mahlentombi and Minenhle Sibanda were killed when concrete pipes rolled over them at in Braamfischerville last month.

The bodies of the two sevenyear-olds were transported to Zimbabwe for burial three weeks ago.

At the time the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) had assured the families and the community that where negligence was found, the responsible parties would be held to account.

This week Mahlentombi’s mother Valentine Sithokozile Sifani complained the JRA had promised to discuss details with the family upon their return from Zimbabwe, but so far nothing had been communicated.

“It’s like they forgot about our children,” she said.

JRA’s communication manager Bertha Peter-Scheepers said the JRA had wrapped up its investigations. “We are waiting for the SAPS and the labour department to finish theirs so we can decide on the way forward.”

David Makhura Gauteng Premier