A distraught uncle who recovered the body of his 10-year-old nephew from the Buffalo River carried the boy on his back for two hours before laying it down at the reception of Buffalo Flats Police Station.
Angry Phila Meyeliseli, 41, accused police divers of failing to respond to the drowning on Sunday afternoon.
He said the Buffalo Flats police told him that they were “too scared” to go over the rocky and bushy cliff and recover the body of Likhona Ndema, 10, because it was “not safe”.
“They told me that that place was a no-go-area and that only suicidal people go there.”
Police spokeswoman Warrant Officer Hazel Mqala said: “I will not comment about the allegations levelled against the police, but I can confirm that our K9 Unit was there. An inquest docket has been opened.”
Meyeliseli said he forgot to take down the names of the police officers.
“Instead of doing something the police had the nerve to tell me that they would arrest me for tampering with the scene. I told them they can go ahead and assisted them by giving them my identity, contact details and address.”
Meyeliseli said he learnt his nephew had drowned at 3pm and immediately called the 10111 emergency line. He said police promised to respond, but he and a friend waited in vain. Phone calls were met with excuses, he claimed.
At 7pm, four hours after calling the police, he decided to retrieve Likhona’s body himself.
“All that time I had been calling the police on numerous occasions. I was not trained to hike up and down rocky and bushy cliffs to rescue bodies but the people who were trained to do so didn’t bother to do their job,” said Meyeliseli.
He said his nephew drowned while playing with friends.
Likhona’s distraught mother, Thumeka Ndema, 41, said her boy had been a dedicated pupil. “He loved me very much and cared deeply for me. He had asthma and when he got sick and struggled to breath, as young as he was, he would hide it from me and ask his siblings not to tell me.”
Ndema said her son had come home at 2pm and gone to play with friends. She was alerted by her older child, Ziphozihle, 18, that he was feared to have drowned. — malibongwed@dispatch.co.za
Distraught uncle recovers 10-year-old nephew's body from river
Angry Phila Meyeliseli, 41, accused police divers of failing to respond to the drowning on Sunday afternoon.
He said the Buffalo Flats police told him that they were “too scared” to go over the rocky and bushy cliff and recover the body of Likhona Ndema, 10, because it was “not safe”.
“They told me that that place was a no-go-area and that only suicidal people go there.”
Police spokeswoman Warrant Officer Hazel Mqala said: “I will not comment about the allegations levelled against the police, but I can confirm that our K9 Unit was there. An inquest docket has been opened.”
Meyeliseli said he forgot to take down the names of the police officers.
“Instead of doing something the police had the nerve to tell me that they would arrest me for tampering with the scene. I told them they can go ahead and assisted them by giving them my identity, contact details and address.”
Meyeliseli said he learnt his nephew had drowned at 3pm and immediately called the 10111 emergency line. He said police promised to respond, but he and a friend waited in vain. Phone calls were met with excuses, he claimed.
At 7pm, four hours after calling the police, he decided to retrieve Likhona’s body himself.
“All that time I had been calling the police on numerous occasions. I was not trained to hike up and down rocky and bushy cliffs to rescue bodies but the people who were trained to do so didn’t bother to do their job,” said Meyeliseli.
He said his nephew drowned while playing with friends.
Likhona’s distraught mother, Thumeka Ndema, 41, said her boy had been a dedicated pupil. “He loved me very much and cared deeply for me. He had asthma and when he got sick and struggled to breath, as young as he was, he would hide it from me and ask his siblings not to tell me.”
Ndema said her son had come home at 2pm and gone to play with friends. She was alerted by her older child, Ziphozihle, 18, that he was feared to have drowned. — malibongwed@dispatch.co.za
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