Fury after boy dies in manhole accident

SIBUSISO Ndaba spent the last hours of his life in anguish and yelling for help.

This is according to the uncle of the 6-year-old Sebokeng boy, who died after falling in to a manhole in Polokong.

Sibusiso’s family wants to know why members of the Emfuleni Local Municipality emergency services did not heed residents’ repeated appeals to save the little boy.

Nkululeko Ndaba, 28, said that after the heavy rains this week his nephew accompanied a tenant from his father’s house.

The woman, whom the family knew well, went to visit her mother. On their way home, the woman and Sibusiso were walking between the puddles.

“Sibusiso stepped on to the lid of a drain that was partly open. The lid flipped and he fell in,” Ndaba said.

The police were called shortly afterwards and a fire engine arrived. But Ndaba says what happened next angers him more.

He said the emergency staff stood next to the crowd, saying there was nothing they could do as they didn’t have the rescue tools they needed.

“They just stood there with the crowd. They listened to him screaming. They could have called for back-up and he would be alive today.”

Ndaba said emergency workers were still there when the boy’s screams stopped. A private contractor retrieved the body yesterday morning.