One of the two boys, who drowned yesterday during a school excursion at the Hennops River near Centurion, was trying to rescue his fellow learner. The boys from Daveyton Skills School were on a school excursion when the incident took place.

According to the Department of Education spokesperson Steve Mabona, the two learners aged 13 and 16, were attending a discipline camp held by non-governmental organisation Rising Stars Generation in Pretoria from Friday and were scheduled to return on Monday. "It is alleged that after the activities had been concluded on Monday afternoon, one of the learners suddenly ran towards a nearby river close to the campsite entrance and a second learner followed in an attempt to bring him back," Mabona said. He added that the learner who ran off, jumped into the river, prompting the second learner to try and rescue him, both learners drowned. Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane said he was deeply saddened by the deaths of the learners. Chiloane said that their Psycho-Social Support Unit will be dispatched to the school to provide necessary trauma support and counselling. "We are deeply saddened by the unfortunate deaths of our learners during a school excursion. On behalf of the department, we wish to extend our sincerest condolences to their respective families and the Daveyton Skills School community," the MEC said.

City of Tshwane EMS spokesperson Charles Mabaso Mabaso confirmed that the bodies of the two boys were recovered by SAPS divers. "The City of Tshwane Emergency Services Department received a call around 15:14 and a drowning incident was reported. Emergency Services arrived on the scene to find that two boys aged between 13 years and 16 years of age had drowned. It is alleged that the boys were engaged in a water activity as part of a school excursion," he said. He said the boys were declared dead by paramedics on the scene and that circumstances leading to the drowning incident remain a subject of investigation by the SAPS.