Pretoria - The death of a 23-year-old Zithobeni man who drowned after he slipped into a trench full of water on Sunday has caused much anger and sadness.
Many who spoke to the Pretoria News on Monday pointed fingers at the City of Tshwane for allowing a contractor to abandon the trench. It had been dug to install a stormwater drainage system in the area.
The ANC in the city took a political shot at the ruling DA and accused it of not paying the contractor and thus putting an end to the project, leaving the trench open. The DA hit back, saying the contract ended when the ANC was in power.
According to the residents, the contractor left the job incomplete due to non-payment from the city for services rendered.
The abandonment of the project also left many of them out of work as they had been employed there.
The dead man, Bathisda Manyisa, was from Mozambique. He was walking to his friend’s house when he slipped and fell into into the trench, which was filled with rainwater, and drowned.
The trench is a stone’s throw from his friend’s house in Extension 10.
A woman who lives nearby, who asked not be named, said it was around 5pm when the incident happened.
“I had just arrived from a church service and Bathisda spent some time here playing with my 4-year-old child outside my place. The next thing I heard noises outside of people trying to rescue him out of the water,” she said.
She said residents desperately tried to rescue the Mozambican, but without much luck. “They used ropes and a makeshift ladder to take him out of the water, but that didn't work either,” she said.
The woman said his father arrived and dived into the water because he could swim. However, his efforts were too late.
“He swam inside the trench and lifted Bathisda's hand, which by that time no longer showed any sign of life. It dawned on all of us that he had died,” she said.
Another resident who used to work on the project said the work was stopped because the contractor had not been paid in a long time. “This particular trench was dug six months ago for the purpose of installing underground pipes for storm drainage and sewage,” he said.
