Family of drowned 12-year-old Eastern Cape twins want R20m in damages

The family of 12-year-old twin boys Inathi and Ikhona Ngangelizwe, who drowned in a flooded quarry on January 9 while playing in Mooiplaas in the Eastern Cape, are looking at legal options for damages.

The bodies of the twins were recovered by divers on January 10 from the quarry in Silatsha village, which was flooded after heavy rains.

Family spokesperson Vathiwe Bityo, the boys' aunt, confirmed that the family was receiving legal assistance from a law firm that had contacted the municipality and other government departments.

“They wrote a letter to Amathole [municipality] and to other people to see what happened. They said they will come back to us,” she told TimesLIVE.

In the letter, seen by TimesLIVE, the firm acting on behalf of the grandmother of the boys, Celiwe Ngangelizwe, is demanding R20m for pain, emotional shock, grief, sorrow and trauma.

“The death of the twins is the result of the negligence of the contracted company(ies) and project managers of the state entity(ies) that contracted the unknown road maintenance contractor(s). The negligence of the contractor(s) and state organs that contracted the company infringed on the constitutional rights of the deceased and our client,” the letter reads.

Bityo said the family was still hurt by the deaths, particularly for granny Ngangelizwe, who they were living with.

“They were helpful to her because she had a stroke. Now there is no-one to stay with her. She is struggling to get someone to help her. Gogo is sad about what happened to her twins. She is crying about what happened.”

She said a construction team in October dug and left a dam open with no fence.

“We felt sad ... We were hurt about these twins because we all loved them. Even now it is a pain and a trauma to us because we were looking forward to seeing them doing things when they are old.

“We always asked them about their dreams. They were talking about their future and what they are going to do in the family. They could see that we were suffering for a long time and they were telling us about the future.

“We are hurt because it was our first time in the family to have twins and all eyes were on them,” she said.

Ward 2 councillor Zolani Nzuzo said the boys drowned in an old quarry opened by a contractor during roadworks.

The community had requested the contractor to rehabilitate the quarry and convert it into a small dam for cows to have drinking water. “But because of the storm, the flooding came. The children went swimming there.

“We had a meeting with the community, so that now because of this, to protect the future, the municipality must close down that dam. We are busy with that process,” he said.

Amathole municipality spokesperson Nonceba Madikizela-Vuso confirmed receipt of the letter from the attorneys on behalf of the complainant.

“We don’t know if we are respondents or not; what we received is a letter as a copy from the attorneys, we can confirm that we have it. As something that has happened within our jurisdiction, loss of life is tragic no matter the circumstance,” she said.

While that is the case, the letter is a copy from the attorneys, it's not a letter from the court that indicates whether we are respondents. Our understanding is that we are copied because the incident happened within our jurisdiction.”

TimesLIVE