Calls to close off city pond after Northern Cape boy, 12, drowns
CALLS to close off the now infamous Witdam pond have intensified following the drowning of yet another child earlier this week.
Twelve-year-old Lesedi Setlhauno died on Wednesday afternoon after swimming in the Witdam pond with friends.
Police spokesperson Captain Bashoabile Kale confirmed that an inquest docket has been opened by the Galeshewe police following the retrieval of Lesedi’s body.
Lesedi, who is from Kuruman, was visiting his grandmother for the school holidays in Galeshewe.
His aunt, Semakaleng Mokgoro, said yesterday that she last saw him at about 3pm when she returned from work.
She said it was hot and everyone seemed tired, including Lesedi and his cousin.
“Lesedi's grandmother and myself took a nap for about 20 minutes, but when I got up they were gone.
“We thought that they were playing in the street,” said Mokgoro.
“An hour later we saw his cousin and a friend, both traumatised, holding Lesedi's T-shirt. According to them he had drowned in the dam.
“That is when we rushed to the police station next door and to the dam to see what we could do.”
Mokgoro said that they knew deep down that it was too late for them to save Lesedi.
Residents in the area said that this was the third drowning at the pond in five years.
“The municipality made an effort to seal off the other side of the dam with devil’s fork after several drownings, but now they have been stolen,” said one resident Meitjie Bloem.