Families of KZN drowning victims call for quarry's closure

The grieving families of two men who drowned recently at a quarry dam at an abandoned mine in northern KwaZulu-Natal have called for its closure.

The men drowned in separate incidents on February 25 at the infamous Nseleni quarry dam in Empangeni, adding to a growing number of drownings at the quarry. 

The first victim, Lungani Gumede, 37, was among scores of locals who attended one of many weekend picnics that have become synonymous with the quarry.

His family this week described him as a talented fun person who was always making jokes. 

The father of four is reported to have got into difficulty while swimming at the quarry and was pulled out of the water by community members and died while being transported to the clinic.

“He was home the whole day and then about 1pm, he said he was going to the quarry. A little while later we received a hysterical call, informing us that he is no more. 

“They said he had drowned. Another call came almost immediately after the first one, but this time, the caller said he is still alive and we should find a car to rush him to the clinic.

“They however found a car there at the quarry and rushed him to the clinic but he died on the way,” said Khonzaphi Msweli, Gumede's aunt.

She appealed to the government to close down the quarry to prevent similar incidents in future.

“We would like our leaders to intervene and close that quarry. Unfortunately, this has already happened to us but for the sake of other parents please shut it down,” said Msweli.

“It has no single benefit to the community, it just brings suffering.”

The second victim, 47-year-old Mazwi Ngema, drowned a few hours later. 

“They had gone to an event at the dam where there were DJs. We were told he wasn’t swimming but it’s still unclear how he fell into the dam,” said Mazwi’s mother, Ntombi Ngema.

“A child came running to deliver the news and my brothers rushed to the dam but the search and rescue team said it was too dark to search for his body and that they would resume the search the next day. They found his body on the Sunday morning.”

Ntombi said the family was shattered because his son, who left behind a daughter, was the breadwinner in a very big family. He was a fisherman and also did piece jobs to fend for his family.

“We are very sad because we’re a poor family and we have accrued a huge debt with funeral arrangements. We will have to take all take the children’s grants to pay off the people we owe,” she said.

Both families said they hadn’t seen or heard any warnings by the municipality about the dam.

Initially a quarry mine, it was later abandoned by its owner, Ukumba Brick and Quarry (Pty) Ltd, a private company.

Since December, local have been using it as a swimming and picnic spot while others extract the remaining stones and other materials.

In January, 47-year-old Ndoda Manqele, drowned in the dam. The drownings have not deterred locals from swimming in the dam.  

“The 'Sun City' dam is swimmable, the water is nice and cool,” said Sibusiso Vilane.