A Form One student, Regent Motau, on Sunday drowned in the Mankgodi Dam as he played with his friends near the dam.
Thamaga Acting Station commander Parkie Pius confirmed to The Telegraph that Regent, a student from Thobega CJSS, drowned, adding that “at the moment I can not say much because police investigations are still under way”.
The incident happened around 3pm on Sunday when the boys herded their cattle to the dam to drink.
Regent and three other Standard Six boys, from Letlole Primary School, got to the dam after grazing the cattle and played football at the edges of the dam while the cattle were having a drink.
It was then that the ball was kicked and got into the water that Regent allegedly went in to retrieve it and was unable to come out of the water.
The boys said that they tried to help him out using a piece of wire but Regent is said to have continued to slide back into the dam.
One of the boys ran home to report and elders immediately rushed to the scene of the accident.
When they got there, all they saw were the shoes and the floating ball. They then called the police who, in turn, sought assistance from the army.
The boys are said to be all related and always spent time together but this was the first time they had gone to play at this place.
When the soldiers came, it took them about two hours before they found the child because they faced several hurdles, including the unexpected depth of the water and the darkness.
They rushed the child to the hospital where he was certified dead on arrival.
Marusia Motshwiri, a spokesman for the family, said that Regent’s father left for South Africa where he is working while the mother is home, nursing Regent’s twin siblings.
Another man, who spoke at the scene, said that, as a relative to the family, he wished counseling could be made available to the surviving boys as they are still in shock.
People who gathered at the scene said that this is the first time such incident occurred in their village and wondered why the government had not filled it up with soil since it was discovered that it was wrongly placed and was not serving any purpose for surrounding villages.
They said that until then, a security guard should be employed to watch the dam.
