Sadly, as we were enjoying the warm weather in Gauteng, tragedy struck as two children drowned while swimming in a river in Soweto yesterday.
According to the Community Policing Forum's Marlin Joseph, the two, aged 13 and 14, were swept away when they tried to rescue one of their friends at a Kliptown river. "The two jumped in to help her, she made it out and she is at Baragwanath Hospital. The two, we have just discovered them now, unfortunately they did not make it," Joseph told eNCA yesterday.
The three had gone to the river to swim without any adult supervision, where the nearest houses are more than 100 metres away from the stream. Joseph described the stream as "too dangerous", that in the past few weeks they had discovered a few bodies already. We send our condolences to the bereaved families.
Meanwhile, we are in a fun, warm season, with lots of outdoor activities for children, including swimming. However, adult supervision is very important, as when they swim there has to be an elder who can swim and assist in cases of a near drowning. It is even worse in the case above because they were swimming in open water – even when they are playing in a pool in the backyard they need to be monitored.
There are many cases of drowning reported around this time of year, and we call on parents to be extra careful, always know where your children are and ensure pools have nets and if it is fenced off the gate must be locked at all times to protect the younger ones.
Sadly, in the South African context we do not only have to watch out for our kids against drowning, there have been many cases of kids being found murdered – the latest being the two children found dead in Orange Farm recently.
Mpho Makondo, 8, and Simphiwe Mncina, 6, were found on September 19 after being reported missing the night before. They were last seen leaving a salon after accompanying a relative there. There was also the video that went viral of the attempted kidnapping of a child while the family sat in a Johannesburg eatery.
We urge parents to be vigilant, it is the silly season with lots of fun outdoors for kids to enjoy – but also lots of dangers.
