Joy and laughter ended in heartbreak when Kabelo Nonyane (15), who was playing at a stream with friends at Madadzhi village in Muwaweni, drowned last Tuesday.

The boy and his friends went to swim in the stream as it was extremely hot. Kabelo, however, vanished into the water. A friend then ran to the inform his parents and other community members. They called the police, but when they arrived at the scene, it was already dark and the boy was nowhere to be found.

Community members and the family slept at the stream until the police divers arrived the following day (Wednesday). When they arrived at the scene, they could do little more than to retrieve the body.

A cousin of young Kabelo, Mr Samuel Samphenyana, said they had a sleepless night, not knowing where the body of the boy could be found. “We needed the body, so that we could give him a decent burial,” he said.

Limpopo SAPS spokesperson Brig Hangwani Mulaudzi said that the police had opened an inquest docket. He also appealed to parents to take care of their children and teach them to avoid playing in rivers and streams.

Kabelo, a Grade 8 pupil at Mainganye Secondary School, was buried at the Madadzhi cemetery on Saturday.