Cape Town - Police are investigating the death of 12-year-old after he allegedly drowned in a dam in Klapmuts.
Rowan Titus went missing on Monday afternoon. A relative told the Cape Argus that he was last seen with his friends heading to a local dam for a swim but never returned home.
According to the police, however, Titus was only reported missing the following day.
Police spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi said: “On Tuesday at about 8.45am Klapmuts police registered a missing child report. All local role-players were immediately activated to assist in the search, including the provincial diving unit.
Late on Tuesday afternoon, the diving unit recovered a body from a dam on a nearby farm.
“The victim was declared deceased on the scene by the medical personnel. Klapmuts police registered an inquest docket for further investigation.”
Family member Michelle Davids said: “Rowan was last seen by the friends he had gone swimming with. According to the boy, he couldn’t swim so he was struggling in the water. Unfortunately, the boys said that after some time at the dam they left Rowan there and came back home.
“When we noticed he was missing, we immediately began searching but we couldn’t find him. We even went to that exact dam several times. All the while, the boy who knew where they’d last seen Rowan didn’t say anything. He said he was scared as they were not supposed to be at the dam in the first place.
“It’s just so, we can’t even be mad at the situation. When he finally told us what happened on Tuesday afternoon we alerted the police and went back to the dam. They found a body later that night.”
Klapmuts councillor Emily Fredericks said while she couldn’t speak on the incident out of respect for the family, she was deeply saddened by it.
“One can never say they did their utmost best when incidents like these happen. We are all responsible for the children and, tragically, events like this continue to happen under our watch. As a community, we need to unite in looking after our children and see to it that they refrain from visiting such dangerous areas,” said Fredericks.
Community leader and EFF councillor candidate Lisenda Horsband said the incident, like many others before, was why she had decided to run for council.
Horsband, who has experience as a community developer and activist, said that for years the community had been fighting for the upliftment of the youth and for there to be suitable recreational facilities in the area.
“I never wanted to get into politics, my heart lies with doing work on the ground. However, when incidents like this occur, to change things I need to get into the system.
“We cannot still be losing our children in such horrific ways. A few years back it was Keanan, now it’s Rowan. There is work to be done, we need to create a safe and controlled justice environment for our children.”