Seven people have drowned in overflowing rivers in the past two months.
Two 10-year-old boys drowned in the Phalala River at Ga-Seleka outside Lephalale in Limpopo last week. The body of one of them is still missing.
Police have temporarily stopped the search due to the potential danger from wild animals in the river.
The mother of one of the boys who drowned outside Lephalale is struggling to come to terms with her son’s death.
Thapelo Maropola and a friend Jan Monare were swept away by a strong current on New Year’s Day.
They were swimming with friends when they drowned.
Maropola’s body has not been found despite a search by police and community members. His distraught mother has accused the police of abandoning the search prematurely.
The mother of the victim Martha Maropola says, “The drowning of my son very much hurts me. I am appealing to the police to hire divers so that they can retrieve my child. Only when they found my child can I find peace.”
The community says this is not the first drowning incident in the Phalala River. They say in 2020, two boys drowned and their bodies were never found.
Residents have continued the search for Maropola’s body, and they want the authorities to assist them.
–SABC–
