Residents from Nomzamo in Orlando East are concerned about a dam that was created during the heavy rains but the kids in the area are excited and use it a swimming pool. The parents claim that it was never been there before and worry that something bad could happen. Zikhona Mthembu told Zimoja that the dam is situated right behind a school and in close proximity with three other schools.

TURNED INTO A POOL

She said adults were not aware of this and it was the kids who discovered it. " It's close to a path many kids use to get to their schools and I suspect the kids were going to play soccer when they discovered the dam. My worry is they just go in without knowing the depth or what dangers they could come across." Zikhona said on weekends you'd find more than 20 kids from ages 10 to late teens. "When I walked up to the "Nomzamo pool" the young kids are told to watch from the outside while the others dive in. The short ones disappear into the muddy water and the taller ones are visible from the shoulders up," she said. She said despite the high temperatures there was no chance of the dam drying up.

NO FACILITIES IN THE AREA

A 15-year-old boy whose identity is known to ZiMoja said there are no facilities to keep the youth busy in their area and the dam is a perfect distraction. "We really have nothing here, no park, no library or sports centre to keep us busy. This dam is the perfect escape from our reality. I can tell you now that some kids would disappear and their parents would worry about their whereabouts but now they know exactly where to find them."He said they check the depth of the water using a stick before going in and also checked if there were rocks before they dived in. "We try by all means to look out for each other and give each other swimming lessons, it's fun for us and we hope it doesn't dry up," he said.

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