Family and friends pay their respects to Komape family

THE 5-year-old boy, Michael Komape, who died last week when he fell into a pit latrine at Mahlodumela Primary School in Chebeng outside Polokwane, was laid to rest on Sunday.

Speaking at his funeral, cooperative governance, human settlements and traditional affairs MEC Ishmael Kgetjepe said: “Mostly when things of this nature happens, we look for someone to blame, to point fingers at. As government we apologise to the Komape family for this accident,” Kgetjepe said. He further said they would fast-track sanitation services to schools in the province.

Alfred Komape, who spoke on behalf of the Komape family, said what happened had been an accident that had not been planned. He said the whole family was traumatised by the accident and it would take them time to heal.

Michael’s funeral saw members of various political parties wearing party clothing pay their last respects.

AgangSA provincial spokesperson Tebogo Mojela said some politicians from other parties were disgruntled that the Komape’s had acknowledged AgangSA for their contributions. “We contributed in the form of support and money, the amount of which we cannot disclose,” he said.

Education MEC Dikeledi Magadzi was shattered by the young boy’s death, who she said she saw as a grandchild. She was unable to make any further comments. Her spokesperson, Phuti Seloba, said the department had learnt a serious lesson, especially in terms of security.

“We have since provided support to the other learners, as well as the teachers, and counselling will continue to be provided because the school is still there, and the place where the incident happened is still there – only the young boy’s body was removed,” Seloba said.

Polokwane mayor Freddy Greaver said rural sanitation was a priority and at the top of the municipality’s list. “We have backlog regarding sanitation but we have come up with a plan to fast-track rural sanitation. Regrettably a child lost his life while we were still working on this project,” he said, adding that the municipality needed to double its efforts and improve the rate at which they rolled out rural sanitation.