[imagesource: Michel Bega / Citizen]

Nothing will bring back 13-year-old Enock Mpianzi, who tragically drowned whilst on a Parktown Boys’ High School Grade Eight orientation camp.

The same is true for at least four other children who drowned at Nyati Bush and River Lodge since 1999, which points to a culture of criminal negligence at the lodge.

Now, months after Enock’s drowning, the results of a forensic investigation into his death have been made public.

Compiled by Peter Harris of Harris Nupen Molebatsi Attorneys (HNM), and released at a press conference at Parktown Boys’ High School, it’s a damning indictment of the lodge at almost every level.

For a start, the lodge actually had life jackets, which it chose not to issue to Enock and the other students.

News24 reports:

The probe found that the lodge operates with 12 jackets. The campsite personnel and teachers were therefore found to have been negligent and reckless to have allowed over 200 pupils who attended the camp to be in the water without life jackets, Harris said.

He added that educators should have stopped the activity when they saw that water currents were strong and that there were no life jackets.

“The explanation given by [camp manager] Mr Knoetze that the learners were meant to stay in the shallow water and not go into the river and that life jackets are only issued for tubing is found to be callous and false,” the report reads.

“Callous and false” is putting it mildly, and when you read the eyewitness account of Enock’s drowning, and the days that followed, your blood will boil.

Also, 12 life jackets for a lodge that regularly hosts around 200 students is akin to the Titanic and its lifeboat situation.

Knoetze may say that the boys were supposed to remain in shallow water, but Enock’s body was found close to two kilometres downstream from where he entered the water, having been swept away almost immediately after entering the river.

The law firm also outlined that, during the investigation, it also learnt that there were more than two other deaths at the lodge and recommended that further investigations be done into previous incidents – particularly those of Portia Sowela, Thuso Moalusi, Tumi Mokomane and Mellony Sias – to establish the progress of police investigations in the deaths and whether Nyati was at any fault.

As mentioned previously, those four deaths mentioned above all occurred from 1999 onwards.

Some stern words were also dished out to the Parktown Boys’ High School teachers, who did not provide adequate supervision. This is especially negligent when you consider that a 2018 report, carried out after the sexual abuse by former water polo assistant coach Collan Rex came to light, found that there was insufficient supervision and presence of teachers at Grade 8 camps.

Lesson not learnt, and the life of a 13-year-old child lost as a result.

To finish, here are Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi and investigator Peter Harris at the press briefing, talking about the report:

[source:news24]