By SIKHO NTSHOBANE and ZISANDA NKONKOBE
Five people drowned – four of them children – in two main Eastern Cape supply dams last week, prompting alarmed municipal bosses and police to warn people against swimming in the dams.
An adult and two children drowned in the Mthatha Dam in the span of four days last week and two children died in the Bridle Drift Dam on Friday.
Mthatha Dam supplies drinking water to the city and surrounds but is also a popular hangout spot.
Bridle Drift Dam is the main water supplier to East London and Mdantsane.
At Bridle Drift, two boys, aged 12 and 13, from NU2 in Mdantsane were without adult supervision when they drowned, police spokesman Captain Mluleki Mbi said.
Also on Friday, a 14-year-old Tsolo boy drowned at the Mthatha Dam around 1pm, said his Mthatha counterpart Captain Dineo Koena.
The victim is believed to be from Matyeba village in Tsolo.
“The boy had gone to swim with friends,” Koena said. The body was retrieved by police divers.
Koena said the body of a unknown man, believed to be in his 30s, was found floating in the dam around 7am on Thursday by Kambi village residents, who themselves had gone to the dam to look for a relative who has been missing since early November.
This was only two days after an eight-year-old Tsolo girl drowned while taking a dip on Tuesday with her cousins under the supervision of her aunt.
Inquest dockets have been opened.
Earlier last week, a worried Koena urged people to stop swimming at the dam, saying the fact that there were no lifeguards made swimming there a huge risk.
Following the latest two incidents, King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) and OR Tambo district municipalities joined the fray in advising people against swimming at the dam.
Speaking to the Daily Dispatch at the weekend, KSD municipal spokesman Sonwabo Mampoza said the water at the dam was meant for domestic usage in households.
“It is totally incorrect for people to go and swim there. There are municipal swimming pools where people can go for a swim.”
OR Tambo municipal spokesman Ayongezwa Lungisa said although the dam was the property of the department of water and sanitation, they also discouraged its use as a “swimming spot”.
He said the district municipality had been running awareness campaigns since last year to warn about the dangers of swimming in the dam as the shoreline had too much mud which made swimming difficult.
BCM spokesman Samkelo Ngwenya called on all parents to stop their children from swimming unsupervised, whether in rivers and dams or at beaches.
“We have hired 36 extra lifeguards for this summer to oversee swimmers and we have partnered with our international sister city to teach swimming programmes for children in Scenery Park and Duncan Village.”
Attempts to contact the department of water and sanitation for comment were unsuccessful at the time of writing yesterday. — sikhon@dispatch.co.za/ zisandan@dispatch.co.za
Warning after five drown in EC dams
Five people drowned – four of them children – in two main Eastern Cape supply dams last week, prompting alarmed municipal bosses and police to warn people against swimming in the dams.
An adult and two children drowned in the Mthatha Dam in the span of four days last week and two children died in the Bridle Drift Dam on Friday.
Mthatha Dam supplies drinking water to the city and surrounds but is also a popular hangout spot.
Bridle Drift Dam is the main water supplier to East London and Mdantsane.
At Bridle Drift, two boys, aged 12 and 13, from NU2 in Mdantsane were without adult supervision when they drowned, police spokesman Captain Mluleki Mbi said.
Also on Friday, a 14-year-old Tsolo boy drowned at the Mthatha Dam around 1pm, said his Mthatha counterpart Captain Dineo Koena.
The victim is believed to be from Matyeba village in Tsolo.
“The boy had gone to swim with friends,” Koena said. The body was retrieved by police divers.
Koena said the body of a unknown man, believed to be in his 30s, was found floating in the dam around 7am on Thursday by Kambi village residents, who themselves had gone to the dam to look for a relative who has been missing since early November.
This was only two days after an eight-year-old Tsolo girl drowned while taking a dip on Tuesday with her cousins under the supervision of her aunt.
Inquest dockets have been opened.
Earlier last week, a worried Koena urged people to stop swimming at the dam, saying the fact that there were no lifeguards made swimming there a huge risk.
Following the latest two incidents, King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) and OR Tambo district municipalities joined the fray in advising people against swimming at the dam.
Speaking to the Daily Dispatch at the weekend, KSD municipal spokesman Sonwabo Mampoza said the water at the dam was meant for domestic usage in households.
“It is totally incorrect for people to go and swim there. There are municipal swimming pools where people can go for a swim.”
OR Tambo municipal spokesman Ayongezwa Lungisa said although the dam was the property of the department of water and sanitation, they also discouraged its use as a “swimming spot”.
He said the district municipality had been running awareness campaigns since last year to warn about the dangers of swimming in the dam as the shoreline had too much mud which made swimming difficult.
BCM spokesman Samkelo Ngwenya called on all parents to stop their children from swimming unsupervised, whether in rivers and dams or at beaches.
“We have hired 36 extra lifeguards for this summer to oversee swimmers and we have partnered with our international sister city to teach swimming programmes for children in Scenery Park and Duncan Village.”
Attempts to contact the department of water and sanitation for comment were unsuccessful at the time of writing yesterday. — sikhon@dispatch.co.za/ zisandan@dispatch.co.za
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