Man drowns on Christmas Day

Thupeyo Muleya
Beitbridge Bureau
Police are investigating a case in which a man believed to be in his early 20s drowned in a swimming pool in Tshitaudze suburb (formerly Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle) on Christmas Day.

He is believed to have been part of a group of people who were at a recreational park in the area to celebrate the festive season when tragedy struck.

His identity is yet to be established and the body has since been taken to Beitbridge District Hospital mortuary pending a post-mortem.

Matabeleland South police spokesperson, Inspector Loveness Mangena, confirmed the incident on Sunday.

“The man’s body was found at around midday on Boxing Day by one of the workers at the recreational park while cleaning the swimming pool,” she said.

Insp Mangena said the cleaner tried to retrieve, without success, a huge object that was stuck in the water, only to discover that it was corpse and informed his manager who alerted the police.

“The body was then retrieved and taken to the mortuary and further investigations are underway,” she said.

The incident comes a few days after police here recovered the body of a suspected border jumper who drowned in the Limpopo River while illegally crossing between South Africa and Zimbabwe.

The body was found in an advanced state of decomposition.

Police said the naked corpse was spotted trapped between rocks by a man who was looking for his donkeys near the Panda Mine area.

The man informed the police who then retrieved the body from the river.

Limpopo River is presently six metres deep in some parts and many streams are flooding due to heavy rains that continue to pound most parts of Beitbridge District and northern South Africa.

The local Civil Protection Unit has since issued out early warnings to communities around Shashe, Umzingwane, and Limpopo Rivers to take precautionary measures.

Cases of drowning have become common in Beitbridge during the rainy season.

In January this year, two mourners from the Mtetengwe area drowned while taking a bath in the flooded Umzingwane River.

Late last year, four fishermen drowned in the flooded Zhovhe Dam when a boat they were using capsized while they were casting fishing nets.

The dam is located 63km west of Beitbridge along Umzingwane River.

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