Limpopo, Tubatse drownings on the rise in rainy season
From the beginning of October to date, the police have recorded 20 drowning incidents.
More than 20 people have drowned in rivers and dams across the Limpopo province in less than two months since the rainy season commenced.
From the beginning of October to date, the police have recorded 20 drowning incidents.
“Members of the SAPS Search and Rescue Team have their hands full attending to numerous calls of drownings
in all five districts of the province.
“The latest incidents involve the drownings of two learners at different locations in the policing precinct of
Tubatse,“ said the provincial police spokesperson, Brigadier Motlafelo Mojapelo.
A 12-year-old boy, Thabiso Madire from Praktiseer, drowned when he reportedly jumped into the Tubatse River
on Friday. His body was retrieved by the members of the SAPS Search and Rescue Unit several kilometres from where he had gone in.
On Saturday, the same team managed to retrieve the body of an 18-year-old boy, Gift Mitchel, from the Olifants River under the Tubatse policing precinct, at a distance of about 48km from the point where he was reportedly swimming with friends in Penge.
Mojapelo said several pastors and congregants have also drowned while performing religious baptisms in rivers,
streams and dams at various locations in Limpopo.
The provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe, called on communities to be wary of rivers and dams as persistent rains have probably raised dam levels and rivers might be flooding.
“Our members attached to the Search and Rescue Unit are currently stretched to the limit as reports of drownings are received almost every day.”
