TURFFONTEIN – February 11 marked two months since George Mboane (4), Olona (7) and Othembela Dondolo (9) went missing and were found dead the following day at a pool in Turffontein.
There’s still uncertainty from their parents as to why and how they died, though Warrant Officer Lorraine van Emmerik, Communication officer at Booysens Police Station, confirmed that according to SAPS the autopsy shows the children did drown.
This incident happened on a rainy afternoon of December 11 last year. Olona’s mother, Nontyatyambo Mbali Dondolo who lives in Tully Street, relates the events of what she saw and heard. “Children went to play as usual in Tramway Street. They came back to eat around 14:00 and they went back to play. Upon seeing that it was becoming late and they weren’t home I went out to look for them,” explained Mbali.
She said on her way to look for the children she met the caretaker of Park Senior Primary and asked him about them. “He told me they went in the direction of Hay Street and they were with their friend who was wearing a red top. I proceeded in that direction in vain. The search continued until 01:00 on December 12. Again in the morning we continued with the search together with the prophet, Booysens Police, K9 Unit and Protection Unit. I was taken aback when the police asked the caretaker about the children and he told them he had not seen the children,” said Mbali.
At that moment they decided to view the cameras for clues. Olona’s father, William Omado, said they asked the caretaker to open the other side of the school and view the footage on the cameras. They then went across the school where there is a playing field and, to their surprise, there was also a swimming pool where the three bodies were recovered. He said his son’s clothes were drenched in urine.
“I have lived in this area for seven years and I didn’t know this pool. It is like they were weighed down into the pool, because when someone drowns I believe he should float. There are more questions than answers. Firstly, how they entered there as it was locked, the fence is high with barbed wire, and their clothes were piled together with some of the shoes missing, and if they did drown they could have shouted for help as the pool is near a street, surely someone would have noticed them,” noted Mbali and Stella Ngaju, the mother of George.
Park Senior Primary School had surveillance cameras and an intercom to the value of R12 000 donated to them by one of the parents in September 2012.
William Omado said though they viewed some of the camera footages, they are not satisfied as there’s something amiss. “We watched the footage with the principal, but you saw only the feet of the person, she promised to watch it again on January 15, however it never happened,” recalled William.
W/O Van Emmerik said, “The investigating officer is still investigating the circumstances around the drowning.”
