Toddler dies in drain

A UITENHAGE toddler has died after falling into an uncovered municipal stormwater drain in a tragedy that devastated family and residents are blaming squarely on the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality.

They claim the drain that 17-month-old Joslynn Olifant drowned in on Saturday has been left uncovered for nearly a year – despite frequent complaints to the municipality that it was a safety hazard.

And in another incident, a twoyear old girl drowned in a pit toilet outside her parents’ shack in Kuyga, Greenbushes, on Friday.

Police spokesman Captain Johan Rheeder said: “The [parents] were digging a long-drop toilet and water from recent rain had got into it. They were not home and the person looking after the child did not notice her fall in.”