Colchester drowning tragedy pushes up Bay toll
● Four water-related deaths in metro in just one week
bonania@theherald.co.za
In just a week, four lives have been lost in drownings and other water-related incidents in Nelson Mandela Bay.
In the latest incident, two teenagers drowned after jumping off a jetty into the Sundays River on Tuesday afternoon.
The tragedy sent shockwaves through the small community of Colchester.
Tatum Jonas, 13, from Gelvandale was visiting her family in Colchester and had been warned by her mother, Natasha, not to swim in this fast-flowing river.
Despite the warning, she joined two friends, Eldon Boesak, 15, and a 10-year-old boy, for a swim after they returned from buying cigarettes for the 10 year-old’s mother, Patricia Maroon.
After 6pm, only the 10-yearold returned and alerted the community about the two teenagers, who never resurfaced.
“What I gathered from what my son told the police is that the three kids went swimming together and later got out of the water to catch a breath,” Maroon said.
“However, Tatum and Eldon later went back into the water and disappeared and that’s when my son ran to tell family and neighbours about what happened.”
Police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu said an inquest docket had been opened for investigation.
“At about 6.45pm on Tuesday [the] police were alerted to a drowning incident at the Sundays River, behind the Colchester SPAR,” Naidu said.
“According to police information, three children, aged 10, 13 and 15, were swimming and jumping off the jetty when the incident occurred.”
Naidu said it was believed that after Tatum and Eldon jumped off the jetty, the pair experienced difficulty and disappeared below the surface.
“The 10-year-old alerted relatives and the police K9 search and rescue team as well as the diving unit were mobilised.”
At about 7pm, the bodies of the two teenagers were retrieved from the water.
Naidu said no foul play was suspected.
The atmosphere in Colchester was sombre when The Herald arrived yesterday.
Eldon’s adoptive mom, Samantha Tamboer, could not hold back the tears as neighbours arrived at her home to offer condolences.
Eldon had passed grade 7 and was looking forward to starting at Paterson High School.
Tatum’s mom, Natasha Jonas, who was being comforted by family and friends at her Gelvandale home, also could not speak to the media.
“Yes, I had warned her about that river,” she said, crying.
Family members described Tatum, who would have started grade 7 at Helenvale Primary, as an energetic entertainer and kind-hearted girl who loved playing with friends.
Municipal spokesperson Mamela Ndamase said the metro’s 110 lifeguards were divided among its pools and beaches, and did not have a mandate to provide guards along rivers.
“The city has 51 permanent and 59 seasonal lifeguards of which 55 are deployed at the beaches and 53 at our swimming pools.”
She said until the past week, the Bay had not had one drowning in its pools and beaches this festive season.
“There was only one accident that took place at Varsvlei Swimming Pool in West End.
“The death was as a result of serious injuries to a man due to two men colliding with each other,” Ndamase said.
The metro’s emergency medical services (EMS) responded to three rescue incidents this season, one at Hobie Beach, one in the Springs swimming pool and the Varsvlei incident, in which a father of three died in a freak accident.
In an earlier incident, Elviro Langford, 10, drowned on Tuesday
last week in a waterlogged hole in Missionvale.
The deaths have raised concerns over water safety in the Bay, with two months of the summer season remaining.
Colchester community leader Nolan Baartman said the latest tragedy was the most shocking in the area in recent years.
“We appeal to community members in our area to always look out for the kids when they find them at the river and caution them if they’re swimming without an adult’s supervision.
“It takes divers about 30 minutes to get here [from Gqeberha], and by then the bodies of those who drowned have long been swept further down the river, which prolongs the search.
“We appeal to government to utilise the many young people in Colchester who can swim to be trained as divers so they can swiftly assist when there’ sa crisis,” Baartman said.