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The Matabeleland South provincial police spokesperson, Sergeant Thabani Mkhwananzi, said the first incident occurred on Wednesday at about 12 noon at Lloyd Siyoka’s homestead at Siyoka village under Chief Sitauze area in Beitbridge.

“On the fateful day, Lingani Ndlovu left her baby, Lloyd Siyoka (Jnr) in the custody of her 18-year-old daughter, Naledi Muleya as she went to a nearby dam for fishing. However, Naledi   later left the child playing alone in the veranda and went inside the  house to clean the rooms. The toddler crawled to a nearby bucket containing water  and fell headlong resulting in him drowning,” said Sgt Mkhwananzi.

“When Naledi discovered that the baby had drowned, she rushed to her neighbour’s homestead and alerted elders and a report was made to the police.”
Sgt Mkhwananzi said the post-mortem was waived by the local magistrate as no foul play was suspected.

The second incident occurred on Friday at about 11.15 am at Joshua Moyo’s homestead in Shazhabukwa village in Matobo.
“Joshua Moyo left her two daughters, Immediate (one) and Modest (three) at home to drive away some stray cattle from his field. On returning, he found that the two minors were not at home. Modest later arrived alone and informed her father that Immediate had drowned in a well,” said Sgt Mkhwananzi.

Mr Moyo went to the scene and managed to retrieve the toddler who was still alive. He then tried to render first aid and the baby vomited water and died. A report was made to the police and no foul play is suspected.

“As police we would like to urge parents not to leave their children unattended. We are saying they should cover water sources and buckets to avoid such incidents,” said the police spokesperson.