Eight-year-old boy drowns in quarry pool
THE expanse of water in an abandoned man-made quarry proved too tempting for Mthokozisi Ndlovu and seven friends, but yesterday’s outing there turned tragic for the eightyear-old from Waterloo, Verulam.
Mthokozisi drowned while splashing in the quarry’s murky water.
His friends tried to pull him out when they noticed he was being sucked under, but their efforts were futile.
The boy’s body was eventually pulled out by a fireman who was lowered into the large expanse of water.
He located the corpse after about 30 minutes of searching.
When the Sunday Tribune arrived at the scene, Mthokozisi’s family and other community members had gathered around his body, which was covered with a foil blanket.
His mother, Hlengiwe Nxumalo, wept uncontrollably, while others tried to console her.
Mthokozisi’s grandmother, Dora Magwaza, cried out: “God should have taken me instead of the child.”
Mduduzi Ndlovu, the boy’s father, who had just arrived home from work, said: “This is very painful. When I got a call to come home, they didn’t say my boy was dead.”
Andile Magwaza, 11, was among the group of boys who ventured into the quarry that is near the M27 highway, which separates the Riyadh and Waterloo townships.
With his guardians present, Magwaza told the Tribune that it was their first visit to the quarry.
“Mthokozisi went into the water while we stood outside. When he shouted for help we thought he was playing the fool.
“I jumped in and tried to help him when I noticed he was going under. I called the other boys to help. Mandla (surname unknown) took off his shirt and we tried to pull him out, but we couldn’t.”
Sindy Luthuli, whose son Mandla was also at the quarry, asked who built the pool.
“This is unacceptable, they must answer for this. It could have been my son they pulled out today,” she said.
An employee at a nearby factory said he saw construction vehicles digging up sand from the quarry more than nine months ago, and the sand was used to fill a nearby dumpsite.
“They abandoned the site and rainwater has since filled the hole,” said the worker, who asked not to be named.
Local ward 58 councillor Mxolisi Ndzimbomvu said the “hole” was left unattended by a private developer.
“The private developer was not introduced to me and the community. We were surprised to see work being done there,” he said.
When residents complained to him about the dust, the large construction vehicles in the area and the lack of safety measures on site, the councillor said he approached the eThekwini Municipality.
“The municipality stopped the construction work, but the hole was not filled,” said Ndzimbomvu.
Tozi Mthethwa, the spokeswoman for the eThekwini Municipality, said she needed to check with the planning department who had worked at the site before providing a comprehensive response.
SAPS Spokesman Major Thulani Zwane confirmed the incident.
“An inquest docket is being investigated,” he said. – Additional reporting by Siphelele Buthelezi.