Pupil plunges to his death at Three Rondawels
A post mortem was to be conducted on him on Monday
GRASKOP – The body of a matric pupil of Thulamashe who died on Saturday when he fell off a cliff at Three Rondawels, could only be retrieved the following day. His family was present to witness the rescue operation.
Thulani Sithole (18) of Nyamende High School was killed on impact when he fell about 200 metres off a cliff at this famous lookout point. WO Danie Theron of the police’s dog unit, told Lowvelder that they were notified of the incident at about 14:30 on Saturday.
He and colleagues from the diving unit immediately went to the scene. They were assisted by members of Off-road Rescue Unit and Thaba Chweu’s fire department.
Theron said they climbed about 40 metres down and lay on a ledge and looked over. They could see Sithole’s body about 180 metres further down. “We realised that, with the tools at our disposal, it was very risky to climb down to retrieve the body. Darkness also began to set in,” he said.
Sithole’s family had already arrived at the scene on Saturday afternoon. Rescue workers explained to them that it was too risky to retrieve his body that same day and they were satisfied with the explanation, according to Theron.
Arrangements were then made to have a helicopter from the air force at Hoedspruit assist them the following morning. An Oryx arrived at 10:00 and Theron and Mr Renier van der Merwe were dropped on the ledge where the body lay. “We put it on a stretcher after which the Oryx fetched us again. The whole operation took about 30 minutes,” Theron said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfmVpeTDJhY&feature=youtu.be
Signs had been erected at Three Rondavels to indicate the route tourists should follow to get to the lookout points. Sithole did not fall at any of these and there was no barricade at the spot where he had gone over.
Provincial police spokesman, Col Leonard Hlathi, said an inquest docket had been opened. A post-mortem was expected to be performed on Monday. “We urge teachers, parents or anyone designated to supervise pupils during school trips, to keep an eye on them at all times.”
