The worst fears of family, friends and well-wishers were confirmed Saturday after the body of missing 6-year-old Khayalethu Magadla was found near Eldorado Park Cemetery in Johannesburg.
Khayalethu was last seen on 12 June when friends said he slipped and fell into a manhole in Dlamini Park, Soweto.
The little boy’s body was recovered from the splitter chamber on the first manhole towards the samp situated at Eldorado Park Waste Plant.
Johannesburg City Member of the Mayoral Committee for Public Safety David Tembe said: “Today at about 12.23 pm, Khayalethu Magadla was recovered by a rescue and recovery team”.
It has been an excruciating 20 days for the family since the search began for the 6-year-old boy.
Tembe said the City “sends the deepest condolences to the family in this time of difficulty and hope that they find closure now that Khayalethu is found. Our teams worked tirelessly to ensure that the family finds closure.”
The body was found after the urban search and rescue team searched through a massive pipeline system covering at least 20km from Dlamini to Eldorado Park.
The exhaustive search also involce Joburg Water having to drain water from different sewer systems.
“We thank the officials of EMS, Joburg Water, and all other relevant stakeholders that came on board and helped in the search for Khaya,” said Tembe.
“We give a word of appreciation to NGO Teddy Bear, for providing counselling to the family through SAPS, and Roots Butchery for providing food for the teams on site.
“We’d also like to acknowledge the community of Soweto, for giving support to the family during this difficult time.
The team that found the body comprised 35 EMS officials, Hazmat and urban search technicians, a water unit, a K-9 unit, an air wing, Delta Scan, ambulances from Gauteng province, and 60 members of Joburg Water.
