THE search for the bodies of the two young people who drowned in the Klip River near Olifantsvlei, south of Joburg on Saturday, 18 November, is set to resume on Tuesday, 21 November.
The search entered day two on Monday after the victims, a teenager (18) and a 21-year-old man, were washed away during a cleansing ritual on Saturday night, 18 November.
The mum of the 18-year-old told Daily Sun she had prepared herself for the worst.
While she has accepted that her daughter would not be found alive, she hoped that the pastor who performed the ritual would tell them what happened that night.
“We are still waiting and hoping that the bodies are found. If we get them, then we will decide on what is to be done. We want this pastor to come forward to tell his story so the police can get involved,” she said.
The mother was speaking at the site where the search and rescue operation co-ordinated by the City of Joburg Medial Services (EMS) was stationed on Monday 20 November.
ALSO READ: Little Siya's last swim with friends!
The mother said she was still trying to wrap her head around what happened.
“It hurts a lot. It's even more hard to explain the pain of losing a child in a way you do not understand. I can't measure it up to anything. The story still doesn't make sense to me.”
According to the woman, it was not the first time the pastor had taken the young people to the river for a baptism ceremony. But this time around, the ritual cut her daughter's life short.
She said she was aware the kids had gone for a ritual at the river but became worried when she couldn't reach them on the phone.
“When I tried calling them again, nobody was picking up. It wasn’t until I tried calling again when the phone was answered by a policeman who told me that a tragedy had happened. He said the children had slipped into the water,” said the mum.
She said the family had tried countless times to engage with the pastor on what happened, but they allegedly kept getting contradicting statements.
Meanwhile, EMS spokesman has confirmed that the search for the bodies was suspended on Monday afternoon and will resume on Tuesday morning, 21 November.
“We've decided to call off the search for the day today. We will resume with the search tomorrow morning. We want to allow for the river streams to give off so that tomorrow we can have options to explore," he said.
