A teenage boy from Winburg drowned at an initiation school on a farm outside the town.
Teboho Shomelekae (17) was one of 33 boys who were taken to a pond on the farm during a night-time initiation on Friday (06/01).
“A teacher took the 33 boys to the farm pond around 03:30 in the morning. When the ritual was completed, he counted the boys and saw that there were only 32,” says Capt. Stephen Thakeng, police spokesman.
The incident was reported to the police, and police divers began searching for the boy.
The boy’s body was found and the provincial emergency services declared the child dead at the scene, he elaborates.
Teboho’s death follows the drowning of another Free State teenager, Karabo Mokhobo (16), who drowned in Welkom on Wednesday (04/01) when he and his friends swam in a water hole.
– Alet van der Walt
