Drownings: families consider legal action
THE families of the two children who drowned in a quarry in Mamelodi, Tshwane, at the weekend are considering accepting the offer of legal assistance to take on those responsible for the tragedy.
Tony Lawrence Moore, 4, and Siyabonga Mabila, 7, died trying to swim in a construction quarry at Skierlik Mountain View informal settlement on Saturday.
Yesterday, Action SA leader Herman Mashaba visited the families and offered them legal help. Moore family spokesperson Deon Moore said they gave Mashaba the go-ahead to bring lawyers to help them launch a lawsuit.
On the other hand, spokesperson for the Mabila family, Frans Baloyi, said they needed to think things through before rushing to take legal action.
Tony’s mother, Madeleine Moore, sitting on a mattress, told Mashaba and former MMC in Tshwane Abel Tau, who has since joined Action SA, that their priority was to prepare to bury the child on Saturday. She said they would communicate with the party afterwards.
Mashaba has accused the provincial government and the
City of Tshwane of murdering the children. He said he would take
MEC for Public Transport and Roads Infrastructure Jacob Mamabolo and Tshwane executive mayor Randall Williams to court.
According to Mashaba, the two had to account for the incident as well as the four other boys who drowned in a trench in Hammanskraal in November.
Mashaba said the children died while his organisation’s lawyers were ready to serve Tshwane papers for the Hammanskraal incident.
The Hammanskraal site is a City of Tshwane project, while in Mamelodi the open quarry is part of a highway extension project.
Mashaba said he wanted Mamabolo and Williams to be held personally responsible for the two tragedies.
“This murder happened on Saturday. The community was promised that the site would be fenced. It is Tuesday right now and not even a service provider is there. That is why I call it murder or culpable homicide.
“An accident is something that happens by accident, but obviously if you operate in that manner you are bound to have cases like these.”
The city and the provincial department visited the families on Monday and have been assisting with funeral arrangements and counselling. Mamabolo said he launched an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.