Distraught dad blames municipality, friends for son's death

Kimberley – A 12-year-old boy from Donkerhoek drowned in a public swimming pool after gaining access to the facility through a broken fence.

Mlungisi Rankoe, a Grade 3 pupil from Isago Primary School in Kimberley, died at around 7pm on Wednesday evening after gaining access to the public swimming pool in Hulana Street, after it had closed its gates for the day.

According to reports, Mlungisi and several friends left the swimming pool after it closed at 6pm but returned a while later, after one of the friends indicated that they could again gain access to the pool through a hole in the fence around the facility.

Mlungisi’s father, Clifford Khoza, said that he last saw his son was on Wednesday afternoon, after he came home from school and had lunch.

“Mlungisi only told me that he was going to play, not saying that he was going swimming, probably as he knew that I would not allow him to as he could not swim. After 7pm, one of his friends came to the house and told me that Mlungisi had drowned in the swimming pool. I went there, not believing that he was dead, but when I saw his black T-shirt on the side of the pool, I knew it was him. I found his body, he was only dressed in his underwear, with blood around his nose and mouth,” Khoza said on Thursday.

He added that he was told that the security guard at the swimming pool had heard water splashing in the pool after the facility had closed for the day.

“The security guard apparently found the group of children swimming and told them to get out and leave and they all ran away, leaving Mlungisi in the pool. He (the security guard) was apparently in such a state of shock after seeing my son at the bottom of the pool that he could not manage to retrieve him,” said Khoza.

“Police arrived at the scene about ten minutes later and a police official jumped over the wall, as the gate to the pool was locked, and then jumped into the pool fully clothed to retrieve my son. He performed CPR but is was too late, my son was dead.”

More of Mlungisi’s family members, including his grandmother, also arrived at the scene and said an emotional goodbye before his body was taken away by pathology services.

Khoza not only blamed the Sol Plaatje Municipality, for not fixing the broken fence, but also “naughty children” who bullied innocent children into doing “wrong things”.

“These friends, who tempted Mlungisi into doing things he shouldn’t be doing, are traitors,” Khoza said.

He added that the Sol Plaatje Municipality “was not concerned about the safety of children”.

Khoza said that Mlungisi had strangely requested him to take a photo of him in his school uniform on Wednesday morning.

“I took the photo of him and wondered why he made such a strange request. After that I had this strange feeling that something bad was going to happen. Little did I know that my son would be dead only hours later.”

He described his son as a shy, quiet boy who liked to keep to himself.

Police in Galeshewe on Thursday confirmed that they were investigating an inquest following the incident.

“On Wednesday, at around 7pm, a group of young boys were at the swimming pool. While they were swimming one of the boys apparently drowned. The police have registered an inquest for investigation. We appeal to the parents to make sure that they know the whereabouts of their children and to always ensure that the children do not go swimming without supervision,” said Galeshewe Station Commander, Brigadier Nomana Adonis.

Sol Plaatje Municipality spokesperson, Sello Matsie, on Thursday sent condolences to Mlungisi’s family, following the “regrettable and unfortunate” incident.

He added that the wall around the pool, erected by the Sol Plaatje Municipality to prevent access after 6pm, had deliberately been damaged, giving access to children, who also jumped over the wall at times.

“We will look at better safety measures to prevent access for children who do not know about the dangers of swimming alone,” Matsie said.

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