Action To Be Taken Against Those Implicated In Enoch Mpianzi’s Death

A forensic report into the drowning of Enoch Mpianzi has found that the Nyati Bush and Riverbreak Lodge was reckless in the extreme and that what happened to the 13-year-old boy should have been foreseen.

The detailed report was released on Wednesday night.

Mpianzi drowned in the Crocodile River during a school camp in January after he fell off a raft made by children.

His body was only found two days later.

Investigators interviewed several people, including teachers, pupils and the manager of the lodge.

The report found that the children were not given life jackets, while teachers only realised they had the wrong roll call list after the water activity.

One pupil recalled how two of his peers were hanging onto him in the river but that he let go of one of them and that was Mpianzi.

Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi said Parktown Boys’ High School would be held accountable for their role in the death of Mpianzi.

“There are directives in the report that compel us to act against the principal and the district officials and we’ve already resumed with that task.”

The school governing body and some department officials implicated will face action.

The MEC said the disciplinary action would take place soon.

LODGE REQUESTS COPY OF REPORT

On Wednesday night, the lawyer representing the lodge told Eyewitness News that they had not yet seen the report but would be submitting a formal request for a copy on Thursday.

The probe also found contradictions regarding the presence of facilitators at the river at the time of the tragedy.

A pupil told investigators that when they informed the camp facilitator that some of the other children were struggling in the water, the woman said she couldn’t swim and phoned someone for help.

But the manager at the lodge, Anton Knoetze, told investigators that there were five staff members between the shallow water and the flowing river.

In January, EWN spoke to Knoetze who said Mpianzi and his peers didn’t listen to their instruction and went too deep into the water.

“They didn’t listen, they went in too deep into the river and started panicking. The instructor that was on point pulled them out but because it’s grade 8 pupils, they don’t know each other. They don’t know this boy; the boy’s name was called out and no one responded.”

There have been families and friends of at least four other children who also died at the lodge years ago coming forward also wanting answers.

The forensic report has instructed the Gauteng Department of Education to conduct a thorough investigation into the four other deaths to ensure they too can find justice.

EWN