tame TIMES
JHB South
two time winner of the annual Ekurhuleni awards: Best Print media
A FRESH APPROACH TO LOCAL NEWS Volume 05, 11 February 2014, Week 07
Delivered every Tuesday
Mystery drowning still poses questions
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SEEKING TRUTH: William Amado and Nontyatyambo Dondolo want to know the truth about their son’s death. POSSIBLE VICTIMS: William Dondolo (7), Othembela Dondolo (9) and George Mboane (4).
Laurelle Williams @laurellewilliam twitter.com
Three boys, William Olona Dondolo (7), Othembela Dondolo (9) and George Mboane’s (4) naked bodies were found in Park Senior School’s swimming pool last year on 12 December. Parents of the 7-year-old, William Amado and Nontyatyambo Dondolo, are struggling to come to terms with their son’s death and desperately want to know the truth. Booysens SAPS communication officer, Lorraine Van Emmerick said, “The autopsy shows that the cause of the deaths were drowning, however investigations are still taking place surrounding the drownings.”
Nontyayambo explained that the children went missing on 11 December. “My brother, Othembela and my son William told me that they were going to play with George. The last time I saw them was when they came back around 15:00 and I gave them food. George said he wasn’t hungry but was eating sweets. I asked him where he got the sweets and he said from a man that I know. After the two ate dinner all three ran back outside to play.” All three boys were found the next day in the school’s swimming pool. “They were naked and all their clothes were found in a pile next to the pool. My brother had blood on his nose and my son had foam on his face.”
The reason why the parents think there was foul play is that the pool was locked and there are no open areas where the children could have sneaked in. “William was so scared of water he would start crying if he came near it, so he wouldn’t have gotten in the pool by himself,” Nontyayambo said. The family also seeked assistance from a prophet the evening the boys went missing. She confirmed the boys were near water and that they had been taken there by a blue car. Another thing that confuses them is that the caretaker of Park Senior School said he saw them after 17:00 on 11 December going towards Hay Street, but there was a fourth boy with them.
The grieving mother said that none of the boys could swim. tame TIMES contacted Phumla Sekhonyane, the Gauteng Department of Education spokesperson. She said, “The incident took place during the December school holidays and the three children who lost their lives were not learners from Park Senior School. The incident remains a subject of a police investigation and the school has been giving the police full co-operation.” This full cooperation comes in the form of the CCTV camera footage. To see more photos of the parents showing tame TIMES the swimming pool, please visit www.tametimes.co.za.