Friday, 05 November 2010 09:27
Two teenagers drown at Nagle Dam, KZN
The Nagle Dam community was plunged into mourning on Wednesday afternoon as
news of the shock drowning of two teenagers came to light. Sanele Ninela and
Siyabonga Madondo, both 17, were trying to paddle on the dam on Wednesday,
but their boat capsized barely 50m from the shore. Witnesses braaing on the
banks of the dam immediately notified the dam authorities and police navy
divers arrived at the scene later, but had to call off the search in the
dark to resume this morning. They have since recovered both bodies.
Reports from the area suggest that the teenagers arrived at the dam after
lunch, and picked up a K2 kayak off the ground next to the local Lembethe
Canoe Club racks. Ninela had apparently attended one of the daily supervised
training sessions in the past, but neither of the boys were affiliated to
Canoeing South Africa (CSA) or the club, and had not undertaken any
proficiency tests. The Lembethe Canoe Club has a signed up membership of
over 50 paddlers, and holds regular supervised training in the afternoons
with a CSA appointed coach.
Local CSA development coach Lucas Mthalane was very upset upon hearing the
news, and said, "Everyone here knows we train in the afternoons. I have seen
Sanele once when I helped him last week to paddle. He put on a life jacket
and managed to do okay. I have never met Siyabonga ? they are both not from
this area."
CSA Development Coordinator Martin Dreyer was devastated by the news. "It's
especially sad when someone loses their life having fun, and our condolences
go out to their families and the community at large," said Dreyer
afterwards. "Safety has been my number one concern with all development
clubs across South Africa," he added. "CSA doesn't support or pay any
development coach who doesn't sign the coaches contract, which stipulates
that all paddlers must wear kayaking jackets whenever they are on the water.
Lucas is a very responsible person who has passed his swift water rescue
course, and had one of these young boys joined one of his organised
sessions, this tragedy would have been avoided. We will need to investigate
further though, to put systems in place that ensure this doesn't happen
again."
CSA General Manager Graham Bird was equally shocked at the incident. "It's
devastating for the boy's families, who lost their sons to a recreational
activity. All paddlers will be saddened by this news and our thoughts go
out to the people close to Sanele and Siyabonga. It appears this incident
was unavoidable due to non-members paddling outside of the club's training
sessions, and is ultimately why we urge aspiring paddlers to join their
local club and go through the proficiency process before they take up
canoeing by themselves."
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