ANGER: The flooded municipal construction trench on Hintsaka Pahlo Street in Samora Machel, Cape Town, seen cordoned off with safety netting after a one-year-old child tragically drowned in the water over the weekend.
The City of Cape Town is facing questions over an open drain in Samora Machel where a one-year-old boy drowned, with activists demanding answers about safety measures at the municipal worksite.
The toddler died after being found unresponsive in water along Hintsaka Pahlo Street on Saturday, October 31. Community activists want the City to account for how the site was managed and whether sufficient precautions were taken to protect residents.
According to Western Cape South African Police Service (SAPS) spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Frederick van Wyk, emergency services and local police were alerted to the scene around 4.46pm.
Van Wyk said: “Samora Machel police registered an inquest following an incident in Hintsaka Pahlo Street, in which a one-year-old boy was found unresponsive in a pool of water.
“One of the children took the baby out of the water and he was taken to a nearby hospital where he was declared deceased.”
Van Wyk added that a post-mortem will be conducted to confirm the exact cause of death while investigations into the surrounding circumstances remain underway.
Questions over site safety
The tragedy has placed the spotlight firmly back on municipal site management in poor neighbourhoods.
Community members and civil rights activists report that the site - where a private contractor has reportedly been working on a collapsed sewer line since August - was left unsecured and filled with pooled water just steps from residential homes.
On Monday, following the toddler’s death, construction crews were observed hastily cordoning off the area and filling the trench.
The City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation, Zahid Badroodien, extended condolences to the bereaved family but declined to address specific queries regarding contractor oversight or safety compliance.
Badroodien said: “The City’s Water and Sanitation Directorate has been alerted to this tragic incident and extends its condolences to the family.
“The matter, including circumstances related to this incident, is with SAPS for their investigation, and it would be premature for the City to comment further at this stage. The City is cooperating fully with the authorities and will provide any assistance required as part of the investigation.”
Activists demand accountability
The City’s stance has drawn sharp criticism from the Movement for Collective Action and Racial Equity (Movement for CARE), which accused the municipality of evading responsibility by hiding behind ongoing police probes.
“We are tired of attending funerals for children whose deaths could have been prevented,” said Movement for CARE coordinator Nkosikhona Swartbooi.
“We do not want another memorial. We want a city where children can live, grow, and play safely. We want playgrounds, not walls, and accountability instead of promises.”
Swartbooi argued that municipal leadership cannot decouple itself from the conduct of its appointed service providers.
“The City of Cape Town cannot outsource its responsibility to protect residents. It must account for the contractors it appoints and the safety of its infrastructure… The City cannot appoint contractors and then distance itself from responsibility for public safety,” he said.
According to Movement for CARE, Saturday’s drowning is not an isolated failing, but part of a persistent pattern across Cape Town’s township areas where dangerous, unmonitored infrastructure borders informal yards.
The organisation stated it is currently supporting ten families who have lost children to hazards in public spaces, including:
Independent probe demanded
Movement for CARE is demanding an independent and transparent investigation into the Samora Machel incident, specifically addressing what site safety protocols were stipulated in the contract, whether municipal inspectors visited the trench during the months it sat exposed, and whether strict consequences follow if negligence is established.
IOL Media was told that the child’s family has asked to be left alone to grieve.