Johannesburg - Emotional scenes played out in Soweto on Friday during the memorial service for 6-year-old Khayalethu Magadla, who died after falling into a manhole three weeks ago.
The body of the child, who was playing with friends in Dlamini Eco Park at the time, was found at a water treatment plant near the Eldorado Park cemetery last week Saturday, just days before he was about to turn 7.
This followed an extensive 21-day search by Emergency Management Service (EMS) officials, Joburg technicians and engineers through the 13km wastewater pipeline.
The ceremony was attended by the youngster’s family, neighbours and classmates, as well as dignitaries, including Johannesburg mayor Mpho Phalatse and ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba.
During the ceremony, the boy’s father, Kholekile Magadla, laid a wreath at the manhole that his son fell into on June 12, as attendees sang songs of mourning.
Other musical items followed as doves were released and white candles were lit to commemorate the child’s death.
Some of the flowers at the memorial were Spider-Man inspired, in honour of Magadla’s affection for the superhero.
A large mural of a smiling Magadla during his graduation greeted mourners alongside a red carpet.
Some of Magadla classmates, clad in their school uniform, carried images of the boy as they lined the streets of Dlamini Eco Park.
One of the family’s representatives, Sam Magadla, told the media at the memorial service that they were struggling to come to terms with the youngster’s death and were seeking assistance from the City of Joburg to bury him in the Eastern Cape.
But the city has since said that while they have supported the family to the best of their ability, and after exploring all their policies, they concluded that they were unable to support the burial as it is set to take place outside their jurisdiction.
They added that they have provided vegetable parcels to the family and provided counselling to them.
The boy’s mother, Smangele Magadla, was inconsolable during the service and had to be seated as she wept.
During her first address since her son’s death, she described him as a jovial boy who loved to play with his friends and enjoyed eating soft porridge.
Meanwhile, Mashaba told the media that someone needs to take responsibility for the child’s death and lamented the state of the city’s infrastructure, much of which has been vandalised.
“Manholes in the city have not been serviced for 16 years and the government needs to take leadership on this,” he said.
“I believe that the city must take responsibility and engage with the family, they must face the consequences of negligence.”