BURGERSFORT – Just a week after the bodies of two boys who drowned in the Tubatse River were found, two teenage girls also drowned while crossing the river this past weekend.
Orabile Tau and Tshepang Sello, both aged 14, were swept away by the river at Ga-Phasha.
Cllr Ephraim Hlatshwayo, Ga-Phasha and Mampuru councillor, said the girls were walking home from Makopola Secondary School on Friday afternoon when the incident happened.
“Tau, Sello and a friend were walking home from school. The three girls lived near Bokome Mountain and to reach their homes they had to cross a fountain stream near it that leads into the Tubatse River. They always use this passage to get home, but due to the heavy rain on Friday the water levels of the fountain stream had dramatically increased, making it difficult to cross,” said Hlatshwayo.
The friend refused to cross the stream and decided to rather take the longer route through Ga-Phasha.
As the two girls started to cross the stream they both slipped and fell in the water and the current swept them away. A local who resides nearby saw them fall into the water and went to get help.
“I immediately phoned the police. Meanwhile Ga-Phasha locals started to search for the two girls near the Tubatse River. At 19:00 on Friday Burgersfort police and Thohoyandou police divers from Venda joined the search party,” added Hlatshwayo.
The search for the missing girls continued throughout the night and by 02:00 on Saturday Sello’s body was found about seven kilometres down the river from where they had fallen into the water.
The police continued the search to find Tau on Sunday at 10:00, but with the water level still increasing after the heavy rain, the divers had no success.
They returned on Monday feeling confident that they would recover her body. The water level of the river was subsiding. The divers started the search again from the fountain stream where the girls had disappeared.
After three days of searching the Thohoyandou police divers finally found Tau’s body at the Steelpoort Bridge near Winterveld.
Tau was washed 20 kilometres down the river from where the accident occurred. She was also declared dead on the scene.
EMS Burgersfort Fire and Rescue, Greater Tubatse Municipality’s Disaster Management, Burgersfort Medical Rescue and Burgersfort police were on the scene when she was found.
On Thursday a memorial service was held at Makopola Secondary School. Pupils, school personnel, family and Ga-Phasha locals attended the service to honour both Sello and Tau.
“Their sudden passing shocked our whole community. We are in mourning, but will remember both girls and the friendliness they always showed towards everyone,” said Hlatshwayo.
A joint funeral will be held for the girls tomorrow at Roka Phasha Moshate.
On March 5 Clifford Ngwato (10) and Tshepiso Maole (12) drowned in the river at Ga-Motodi Village. The incident occurred when Ngwato went to swim with his friends, but struggled to resurface. Maole went to rescue him, but the river claimed both of them. Both their bodies were only discovered 23 hours after the drowning.
