Cape Town - The aunt of two of the three young boys who drowned in a shallow vlei near their homes in Kanana informal settlement saw them in difficulty but couldn’t save them because she can’t swim.
Instead, Nokulunga Sinyono rushed off to find help, but by the time she returned they were dead.
The three boys from Gugulethu - Lyabona Sinyono, 7, Asali Nganto, 10 and Alakhe Calata, 7 - drowned in the vlei which can be seen from the N2 and is covered with tall reeds and murky water.
Family say cousins Lyabona and Asali ate dinner at 5pm and told their grandmother they were going out to play.
Later, Alakhe and two more boys joined them.
After 6pm the cousins had yet to return home and, instead, it was their two friends who came to tell they were drowning.
Sinyono, the cousins’ aunt, said she immediately went to investigate.
“Aunt please help us,” they screamed said Sinyono.
“They were crying and screaming, trying to get out of the water.”
But Sinyono, who cannot swim, was too afraid and left to call for help.
“When I returned there were no more screams,” she said tearfully.
Their grandmother, Nobambo Sinyono, said the boys did everything together.
“They were very close, always together.
“Now they died together.”
The tragedy is a double blow for the family, after Lyabona’s mom died from a short illness in October.
“He was living with us and his four-year-old sister Afika.
“It took him a while to understand that his mother was never coming back.
“Now his sister is asking about him.”
She added that the children were not swimming but playing in the vlei and hunting birds.
A few minutes’ walk away from their home, Alakhe’s mom sat on a mattress surrounded by family.
His grandmother, Buyiswa Nkohla, said he had left home at 6pm and told her he was going to the toilet some distance away.
The family believes he must have run into his friends at the time.
“Whoever is responsible for the vlei should please close it off with barbed wire.
“It is very unsafe for children,” she said.
Matshayisa Mpinda, 48, sustained injuries when he was electrocuted after removing the three bodies before police arrived.
“The water wasn’t very deep, it was above my knees.
“I think the children probably stepped onto the electrical wires, underneath the sand below the water, which caused them to drown.”
The city’s disaster risk management spokesman Wilfred-Solomons Johannes said rescue services were called to the scene after 7.43pm.
He confirmed that a man sustained burn wounds to his left leg from live wires.
An inquest docket has been opened by the local police station to investigate the drowning.
Meanwhile, police are urging parents to keep their children under constant supervision - especially with the recent spate of drownings.
Police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk said: “This concern comes against the background of what is identified as a fast becoming trend or pattern in child drowning within the communities.
“Only swim in dedicated swimming areas where a lifeguard is on duty.
“Swimming in the sea must be conducted with caution as currents can often create problems for inexperienced swimmers.
“When swimming in a lake, enter the water feet first.
“The bottom of lakes and rivers can be soft, uneven and changeable. Beware of submerged objects.”
Cape Argus