During the search, the boy’s body was retrieved and he was declared dead. The police are investigating.

It is alleged the boy and six of his friends went for a swim in the dam situated close to the R30 road in K9, Kutlwanong Township.

According to the boy’s family and some residents, that dam is a furrow which was dug years ago by a farmer in the area to protect his maize fields against thieves. Concerns were raised about the lack of fencing around the area because kids frequently went swimming in that dam.

This incident follows another drowning. The Sowetan recently reported about a 10-year-old boy, Ntakadzeni Masithi, who drowned while trying to save his eight-year-old sister, Adivhaho Masithi, who had fallen into a trench at a construction site in Thoyandou, Limpopo, on 12 October 2019. The trench was dug by a construction company building a bridge in Muledane outside Thohoyandou in Limpopo. Their bodies were recovered later on the day.

OFM News/Isaac Mosia and Marvin Ntsane