Cape Town - The police have opened an inquest docket into the death of a 2-year-old boy after he fell into a drain outside his home in Greenpoint, Khayelitsha, on Sunday.
Police spokesperson Warrant Officer Joseph Swartbooi said the circumstances surrounding the incident which happened on Sunday at about 2.20pm were being investigated.
Swartbooi said that according to reports the body of Imthande Swaartbooi was discovered in a drain as it was believed the toddler fell into it.
"The victim was declared deceased on the scene. The body has been sent for an autopsy to determine the cause of death," he said.
The child's uncle, Nkosikhona Swaartbooi said the child was discovered by his mother, Busisiwe Swaartbooi, as she had been looking for him around the house.
He said the drain was right outside his family home, and had been left open.
"Imthande was not the first child to drown in that drain but is, unfortunately, the first one to die as a result of the City’s negligence in failing to fix broken, blocked, and overflowing drains in poor working-class communities,” said Nkosikhona.
He said that despite Greenpoint residents repeatedly asking the municipal trucks operating in the area to fix and cover the drain, the City had continued to ignore those requests.
The Cape Argus has contacted the City. It has yet to respond to the allegations by the family.
A 2 year old, fell in a drain & has died. This happened a few hours ago in Green Point, Khayelitsha. This drain has been like this for a long time. The family say they recently reported it to @CityofCT employees. This is apparently not the first time a child fell in this drain pic.twitter.com/UrxtAEdNDg
— Axolile Notywala (@Xila_Notywala) August 29, 2021