Johannesburg – Mothers clung to their children, watching helplessly, as an excavation machine made way for a crane and rescue teams.
Just the previous night, they had been kept awake by protesting residents who felt that authorities were dragging their feet and had no interest in recovering the body of five-year-old Richard Thola, who fell into a giant sinkhole on Saturday in Jerusalema informal settlement near Witfield in Ekurhuleni.
Richard had been playing with other children near the sinkhole when he fell in.
The women, who stood metres away from a large group of mainly youths, said they were simply out of options.
“We are here because of poverty and a search for a better life because this place is next to the town, but we fear for our children,” said one.
Ekurhuleni mayor Mzwandile Masina, Emergency Management Services (EMS) and officials from the Department of Mineral Resources navigated the pothole-riddled gravel road into the settlement to lead the rescue efforts.
Attempts to locate little Richard had failed over the weekend as EMS officials sent down cameras to investigate his location in the deep, dark void.
What they found was that the ground around the pit was unstable and threatened to give in at any moment, which prompted delays in sending in personnel.
However, it was not only the delay in starting the search that angered the community.
Community leader Doctor Thomo told The Star that their pleas to have the sinkhole closed had fallen on deaf ears in past weeks.
“What pains us the most is that we’ve been reporting this for a month to the council and the mines. When I went there last Thursday, they said they’d come this week; unfortunately Saturday came first and the child fell in. It’s not the first time; it happened in 2006 as well.”
Masina addressed the irate community in the area, which had previously been described by police officials as a “no-go zone”.
“The commitment I’ve made to the family is that we want by the end of today to have found the body of the child. It is important.
“Thereafter we as government will work with the family to make sure we restore their dignity we are saddened by the loss of a child.”
Despite Masina’s confidence that a solution would have been found before the day ended, last night, the rescue teams once again resorted to the use of cameras as the ground became shaky.
“When we do our job, there are processes that we have to follow. If it’s unsafe we don’t want to risk anyone else’s life by sending them down there.
“Safety comes first because the area is unstable, because at any time the ground can give in,” said Ekurhuleni EMS acting spokesperson Vincent Khoza.
@ThetoThakane