Community in shock as 8-year-old Boy drowns

The community of Vondo Block 4 outside Thohoyandou is still engulfed with fear and shock, following the drowning of an eight-year-old boy.

Mulweli Nekhalale, a Grade 2 pupil at John Marubini Primary School, met his untimely death while playing with a friend next to a local spaza shop on Saturday. They allegedly went to a nearby river to drink some water.

Details of his drowning are still sketchy, as the friend could not shed light as to what could have happened before the boy drowned. Limpopo Mirror visited the area on Monday and there was a hive of activity at the deceased’s homestead, where community members were busy constructing a shack.

Community leader Reginald Dama said the community realized that the family did not have a place where they could hold prayers during the week towards the funeral and that they wanted to give the boy  a decent funeral. “We are concerned that it is almost a year after their house was destroyed by the rain, but nothing has come from the side of the government. This is a very poor family and, as a community, we cannot just fold our arms when the family needs us most.”

He added that what had happened had touched the whole community “and we are more than united to give the family all the support, so that the boy is given a dignified funeral.”

Dama said they were going to have a meeting that would, among other things, discuss the safety of children at the village.

This paper later traced the mother of the deceased at Phiphidi, her parents’s home. On arrival, one is greeted by a sight of extreme poverty. The deceased’s mother, Tshimangadzo Nekhalale (34), was in one room of the RDP house owned by her ailing mother.

In an interview, Nekhalale poured her heart out. “I named him Mulweli (the protector) with the hope that he would one day grow up and take care of us. I have done my best throughout to see to it that my two children get the best education and do not become like me.”

She said that the incident happened when she was from doing a piece job to “ensure that my children do not go to bed hungry. It also affected my mother, who is supposed to comfort me; she is now in hospital. I am so sad and grieving deeply,” she said.

Nekhalale said she was at  home on Saturday when her daughter, Vhonani (14), came running and told her that there had been a drowning at the river. “We rushed there, not knowing it was my son, but on arrival, I immediately recognized the clothes he was wearing and could see it was my son. I cried and told the crowd that it was my son, but they told me he was home and not the one in the water,” she said.

She said she was surprised that her neighbours were also crying and this cemented her fears that it was her son. “My fears were confirmed when the police came to my home and asked questions. The situation became clear because my son was not at home. I am so devastated,” she said.

She said she appreciated the fact that the community was erecting her a shack where the burial ceremony would take place. “I feel I failed my son, because he did not have a place to stay because of our poverty. He will not even see the shack where his coffin will be stored before being taken for burial, and this makes my heart very sore,” she said.

At the time of going to press, the family was still struggling to arrange and prepare for the burial, which is likely to take place this weekend. “We are still trying to come to terms with the incident and we are busy preparing for the funeral. With no money, it is not that easy to bury a person and we are trying to get help from anybody, so that we can give the boy a decent funeral,” she said.

Thohoyandou police spokesperson confirmed the incident and said they had opened an inquest docket. “We also urge our communities to look after children and not allow them to go to rivers. Besides drowning, the children are still exposed to dangerous animals such as crocodiles and snakes,” he said.

News - Date: 30 April 2015

Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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