8 December 2006
Gauteng Local Government MEC Qedani Dorothy Mahlangu has urged parents to be
vigilant during school holidays following the drowning of a 10-year-old boy in
Olivenhoutbosch near Pretoria on Thursday, 7 December 2006.
Mahlangu said that since the beginning of the summer school holidays last
week, two children have drowned while swimming at the same stream. She said
that although no heavy rainfall that causes flooding had yet been recorded,
Thursday's drowning and the one on Sunday, 3 December, where a four-year old
boy drowned, were a cause for concern.
"We are concerned about the drowning of the two boys and moreover the rainy
season that leads to flooding has not yet started. I urge parents to be
vigilant and not to allow children to play near streams. It is very disturbing
that this time of the year we lose children in such tragic circumstances
through drowning in open rivers, stream and lakes."
"It is our responsibility as a society to ensure that children are not left
unattended. Sadly, we have to learn from these two incidents and those that
happened over the years. One flooding is one too many and it is for this reason
that the disaster management unit in the Department of Local Government has
been educating children across the province about the dangers of swimming in
open rivers," Mahlangu said.
Between December 2005 and March 2006, 31 people died in water-related
incidents and this is a cause for concern. "During that period the province
also experienced a number of large-scale flash flooding incidents in which more
than 500 shacks were destroyed," Mahlangu said.
She said that the most vulnerable areas that have been identified were
Alexandra, Diepsloot, Orange Farm, Kliptown, Ivory Park and Atteridgeville. She
pleaded with parents to be extra cautious.
Enquiries:
Themba Sepotokele
Tel: (011) 355 5111
Cell: 082 490 9869
Issued by: Department of Local Government, Gauteng Provincial
Government
8 December 2006
Source: SAPA
