By Staff Reporter
The Galeshewe police have made an urgent plea for parents to know the whereabouts of their children. This request follows after 12-year-old Lesedi Setlhauno drowned in Witdam on Wednesday 6 January.
Police spokesperson Bashoabile Kale confirms that the drowning happened around 16:00 and police retrieved Setlhauno’s body in the pond just behind the Witdam Police Station.
Kale indicated that an inquest docket was opened for investigation by the Witdam Police following positive identification by family.
The assumption is that Lesedi and his friends decided to cool off at the pond. He is from Kuruman and came to visit his grandmother for the holidays.
Family representative and the deceased’s aunt, Semakaleng Mokgoro, described him as a quiet boy.
Mokgoro said she left the deceased and his cousin relaxing at home in the shade and went to take an afternoon nap after knocking off from work. “The strange thing is that an hour before the incident took place, the whole family was unusually tired, then we decided to take a nap. When I woke up, the boys were not there. After 30 minutes, his cousin arrived, looking traumatised and confused, holding Lesedi’s t-shirt. We immediately knew something was wrong and that’s when he broke the sad news,” explained the aunt.
Lesedi’s uncle, Bakang Mokgoro, called for proper fencing around the pond, saying that it is the third drowning in six years.
A resident from the area attested to the uncle’s statement and said it had become a nightmare to monitor children, particularly since the lockdown started. “We took it upon ourselves to chase them away, but they can get so rude and rowdy. They even give the police a hard time,” explained the concerned resident.
The station’s Brigadier Belinda Rikhotso expressed sadness at the loss of such a young life and called on the municipality to assist with the pond’s closure.
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