The family of a young boy who drowned in the Klip River last week Monday is desperate to locate his body for a proper burial. Jabulani Mosasane (7) from Klipriver area in the Midvaal, Gauteng drowned while playing with his friends on a riverbank.

His grandfather, Isaac Nkosi, said that on the day that Jabulani drowned, he went to play soccer with his friends in the neighbourhood. "He said they were going to play at one of the neighbour?s houses," Nkosi said. He told ZiMoja that they later learned that Jabulani, together with his friends, crossed the river to the other side to go buy something at a spaza shop. According to Nkosi, when they returned from the shops, they decided not to use the bridge but to walk next to the riverbanks," he said. Nkosi said that his grandson fell into the river, and he was swept away immediately.

Nkosi added that Jabulani's friends informed the family of the incident, and they reported it to the police. "Since that day, we have been going to camp near the river, hoping that the search and rescue teams will recover his body or that the body will resurface, but ten days later, nothing has happened," he added. He said all they want now is the young boy's body so they can bury him. "This has not been easy on the family, especially his mother. She cannot even mourn her child properly when she has not seen his body; this is traumatic," he said. Gauteng police spokesperson Colonel Mavela Masondo confirmed that Jabulani's body has not been found. "The search continues," he said.