8-year-old drowns in Pretoria swimming pool, man dies in Gauteng bus crash

PRETORIA – An eight-year-old boy drowned when he fell into a swimming pool at a home in Pretoria on Friday afternoon, paramedics said.

Netcare 911 responded at about 4pm to reports of a drowning in Montana Tuine in Pretoria, Netcare 911 spokesperson Shawn Herbst said.

According to reports from the scene, an eight-year-old boy had fallen into a residential swimming pool.

A 15-year-old neighbour had seen the child unresponsive in the pool and alerted the family on the property. The child was pulled out of the pool and they provided first aid treatment to the child.

When a Netcare 911 emergency care practitioner arrived on the scene, a full advanced life support resuscitation was initiated.

“Sadly, the patient’s condition rapidly deteriorated and he was sadly declared deceased on the scene,” Herbst said.

In a separate incident, a man was killed and a woman was airlifted to hospital when a car and a bus collided in Bronkhorstspruit in Gauteng on Friday, paramedics said.

Herbst said reports from the scene indicated that a car and a bus were involved in a collision.

“Medics assessed the scene and found that an adult male had sustained fatal injuries and was declared deceased on the scene. An adult female had sustained serious injuries and required advanced life support intervention to stabilise her. Once treated, the seriously injured patient was flown by air ambulance to hospital.”

Three other people, a man and two women, sustained minor to moderate injuries. Once stabilised, all the patients were transported by ambulance to hospital for further treatment, Herbst said.

African News Agency 

POLICE CAN’T BEAT GANG VIOLENCE WITHOUT SUPPORT FROM COMMUNITIES, SAYS CELE

FILE: Police Minister Bheki Cele addressed the media on 28 November 2019. Picture: Abigail Javier/EWN.

CAPE TOWN – Police Minister Bheki Cele has stressed the importance of community members support to bolster the efficacy of crime-fighting efforts.

Cele was addressing mourners at the funeral service of slain five-year-old Valentino Grootetjie from Lavender Hill on Saturday morning.

Grootetjie died after being shot inside his parent’s yard in Drury Court last weekend.

Cele echoed the sentiments of some residents that parents are aware of their children’s criminal activities but refuse to report them to authorities.

Cele said community members must join efforts to reduce crime.

“Everyone is calling on communities because it cannot be police alone. The main role needs to be done is that of parents, as the pastor said, ‘I have money in my pocket, but I will not pay for your bail.’”

Cape Town Mayor Dan Plato was also present at the funeral and added his voice to calls for more support from the community in the fight against crime.

“The shocking issue for me is the families of the killers. They didn’t report them to the police to admit that their family members were involved.”

Plato and Cele are set to meet in the coming weeks to discuss issues around crime in the Cape Town communities.