Child dies in pool of unsecured water

By Emily Setona

QWAQWA – Six-year old Neo Lefuma met an untimely demise when he died after falling into a pool of unsecured water not too from their house at Mphatlalatsane.
According to Public Representative (PR) councillor Bea Campbell-Cloete, the community of Mphatlalatsane are still in shock and waiting for the municipality to explain why the pool has not been secured despite having been reported two years ago.

In an interview with The Guard, the deceased’s mother Dimakatso Lefuma couldn’t hold back her tears as she recalled the incident when she found the lifeless body of her son and had to accept the painful loss.

“My heart is still very sore, and I cannot believe what happened because we have been telling our councillor that this pool of water should be removed because it poses as a threat for our children and the elderly who pass here.
I want justice for my son; the municipality needs to intervene, so that other people do not become victims of the same experience I have gone through of burying my child,” Lefuma said.

The boy was pulled out of the water by his teenage brother; his parents and community members tried unsuccessfully to call for emergency services. He was rushed to a nearby healthcare centre with private transport but couldn’t make it.
The post-mortem report from the medical doctor handling the case said there was no water in his stomach, and it seems like he died instantly from shock.
The family’s neighbour, Puleng Moloi, says the community haven’t yet recovered from the accident.

Dimakatso Lefuma standing next to the pool of water that claimed the life of her 6 year old.

This is compounded by the fact that there doesn’t seem to be any moves on the part of the authorities to rectify the situation, weeks after the boy was laid to rest.
“We have been negatively affected by all this, and we haven’t healed because there are young children who still cross there and there hasn’t been any intervention from the municipality to come and deal with this matter,” Moloi said.

Councillors from Democratic Alliance (DA) have since visited the family and offered to follow up with the municipality to see how this pool of water can be secured and plan to assist the family with counselling, especially for the teenage boy who had to pull his brother out of the water.