By STAFF REPORTER
The body of a 16-year-old boy who drowned in Grey Dam on Tuesday was recovered by police divers on Wednesday morning.
This follows the drowning of a 26-year-old man in the dam on Boxing Day 2021.
In the past 10 years, at least eight people – four of them children – have drowned in the dam.
Several Makhandans reacted to the news with dismay on Facebook and offered heartfelt condolences to the boy’s family.
Vuyisile Dondashe said he wished lifesavers or security should be installed at the dam “because our kids will not stop going to these dams”.
Anna Christensen said she wished the community “could bank together to fix and open the Rhodes pool and give community water safety and swimming lessons”.
In the absence of a public swimming pool, children have been seeking out spots to cool down in as summer temperatures soar.
In a post to the Ward 4 Service Delivery WhatsApp group, Democratic Alliance councillor, Geoff Embling said the lack of a public swimming pool was “a service delivery issue”.
“Public pools should be provided in Grahamstown, and they can be provided if the budget is managed properly. Maybe a few lifeguards should be trained and deployed at dams on very hot days and weekends when a lot of drinking occurs. It is such a pity that the Rhodes pool has not been maintained. I am on the Rhodes council and will push for this, as well as for a municipal pool on the east side of town,” Embling wrote.
