A three-year-old boy has died after drowning in a waste water treatment plant in KwaNomzamo, in Humansdorp. Kouga municipality spokeswoman Laura-Leigh Randall has confirmed the drowning happened on Monday.
While details remain sketchy, it is understood that the plant is next to the informal settlement.
Police spokesperson Captain Gerda Swart said that the toddler drowned while playing with another child at the facility at about 3:20pm.
Swart said that the children, who live at the KwaNomzamo informal settlement which borders the treatment plant, got into the facility after allegedly climbing through a hole in the perimeter fence.
“One of the children, a 3-year-old boy, fell into the sewage and drowned. The other toddler, who is aged between four and five years, then ran to get help and managed to alert an adult about the incident.
"The police were then alerted. The body was recovered and the boy was declared dead,” she said.
Swart said that the name would only be released once the family identify the child at the mortuary. “The body has since been transferred to the Port Elizabeth Mortuary and the family will be going there on Thursday to identify the child,” she said.
Kouga mayor Horatio Hendricks said a thorough internal investigation would be launched to determine what had transpired.
“The loss of a life can never be taken lightly. We would like to assure the family and broader community that the municipality will be conducting a thorough internal investigation to determine exactly what happened,” Hendricks said.
“The Kouga council and municipal administration wish to convey their deepest condolences to the family and friends of the minor who died at the KwaNomzamo Waste Water Treatment Works at Humansdorp yesterday.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family. May God give you strength and carry you through this difficult time,” he said.
Meanwhile, ANC branch secretary Mfundiso Oliphant claimed the plant was easily accessible to children and animals.
“There are many openings in the fence of the plant which the municipality has failed to close over the years and this leads to easy access by animals and children.
"The plant machinery is not working, in spite of the whole sewerage system of Humansdorp town and KwaNomzamo still directing effluent to the plant,” Oliphant said.
-Additional reporting by Gareth Wilson