More questions raised about boy’s drowning

The youngster was dressed in his school uniform, which means it is unlikely that he jumped into the reservoir to swim

June 10, 2014

Sipho Zama 1 minute read

Its still unknown how the boy might have drowned

More questions are being asked about the child who drowned last week at Inkanyezi Special School.

Initial reports released by the Department of Education stated that the boy was 12 years old. Police, however, have confirmed that the boy was only eight years old.

Nhanhla Sabelo Shoba somehow managed to get into a reservoir which was supposed to be totally sealed. Police say that the depth of the water inside the reservoir was between 1m and 1.5m. A postmortem revealed that the young boy died from drowning.

The youngster was dressed in his school uniform, which means it is unlikely that he jumped into the reservoir to swim. This, again, poses more questions than answers.

When the Ladysmith Gazette went to see the ‘container’ in which the boy drowned, a construction worker explained that the water reservoir tank was built for the school’s gardening projects to store rainwater. “It is unfortunate that this happened. It is such a tragedy,” said the construction worker.

Inkanyezi deputy principal Mrs Dlamuka refused to comment when asked by the Ladysmith Gazette , saying that the matter is being handled by the Department of Education.