FATHER CRITICISES POLICE RESPONSE AFTER SON DROWNS
HARTSWATER – The father of a 13 year old boy who tragically drowned in a canal in Hartswater has expressed his frustration over what he perceives as a lack of timely support from local police.
In an interview with MORONGWA at their home in Bonita Park, Lawrence Sehemo recounted the harrowing events that unfolded on Tuesday around midday when his son fell into the canal.
Sehemo reported that the authorities were contacted immediately after his son’s fall, but police did not arrive on the scene until approximately 15h:00 PM.
“They found us there but did not say a word to us. They (police) began driving along the canal back and forth, looking into the water,” he said, visibly shaken by the experience.
Desperate for answers, Sehemo returned to the scene on Wednesday, hoping for help. However, he described a disheartening scene where police merely observed the water without taking further action.
On Thursday, he decided to go down the canal to search for his son.
He cane across a “Search and Rescue Team” from Vryburg, originally tasked with searching for other individuals who had fallen into the canal, intervened and successfully located Sehemo’s son.
“Had it not been for the NW team, we wouldn’t have found my son’s body,” Sehemo stated. After the body was recovered, he was left in the dark regarding its whereabouts. “No one told me where the body will be taken. As I’m speaking to you now, I don’t know where the body is kept,” he lamented.
The boy’s body was retrieved on Thursday in Maphoiysile, about 20 kilometres from Bonita Park
MORONGWA visited the site of the incident, where the canal flows dangerously close to residential areas, lacking any fencing or barriers.
Observing the water’s depth, a passerby demonstrated that the current could easily pose a threat to children. The water, measured at just above chest height, has raised concerns among local residents about safety in the area.
After the accident was reported, the Vaalharts WUA opened all head sluices in its weirs along the canal to prevent the child from getting stuck.
The Vaalharts main canal stretches about 140 kilometres from the Vaal River at Warrenton and passed through the towns of Jan Kempdorp, Hartswater, Magogong, and Taung, ending at the Pudimoe Water Treatment Works where potable water was channelled to Vryburg in the North West.
The Vaalharts Canal that passes Bonita Park, Hartswater, Northern Cape
