Residents of New Khayelitsha in Khayelitsha were left in shock and mourning after a tragic incident on Friday, 29 November 2024. A young man was buried alive while digging a hole to construct a toilet outside a shack. The victim, along with another man, was working on the pit when the sand surrounding it suddenly collapsed, trapping one of them beneath the earth. Despite desperate efforts to rescue him, the man lost his life, leaving the community devastated by the loss of one of their own.
The surviving man, who had been working alongside the victim, attempted to free his friend from the sand, but the situation quickly escalated. As the walls of the pit crumbled, he too was almost consumed by the collapsing earth. Fortunately, the residents acted swiftly, pulling him out of the sand that had already swallowed him up to his waist. His life was spared, but the trauma of witnessing the tragedy and the failure to save his companion was felt deeply by those who were there.
Chrislyn de Jareg, a local community leader, shared the emotional toll the tragedy had on the community. “We slept by the hole all night trying to help him, but we couldn’t retrieve him,” she said. “Every time the rescue services dug, more sand collapsed, and it felt like quicksand.” The community’s anguish was palpable as they watched helplessly while rescue operations struggled to make progress. Despite their best efforts, the ground’s instability made it impossible to recover the victim.
Compounding the grief was the frustration over delays in the arrival of emergency services. Nosiviwe Mgaba, another community leader, pointed out that the newly constructed wall near the site prevented emergency vehicles from reaching the scene quickly. “If they had arrived earlier and accessed the site directly, his life might have been saved,” Mgaba lamented. The delay in rescue efforts only heightened the pain of the residents, who felt that timely intervention could have made a life-saving difference.
Jodine Buekes, also a local leader, described the deep emotional impact of the young man’s death on the tight-knit community. “He died while digging a toilet for his neighbor,” she said. “Although communal toilets are available, many residents prefer individual facilities.” The victim, who was only 26 years old, was loved by those around him, and his death left a void in the community. “We regarded him as our own child,” Buekes added, underscoring the strong bonds that held the people of New Khayelitsha together.
The victim’s family, understandably, was not ready to speak to the media immediately after the incident. In response to the tragedy, Lingelethu West police confirmed that an inquest had been launched. Sergeant Wesley Twigg stated that the body of the 26-year-old was recovered on Saturday, 30 November 2024, after the collapse. “Reports indicate the victim was digging a hole when it collapsed on him,” Twigg said, adding that a postmortem would be conducted to determine the exact cause of death. As the investigation unfolds, the community continues to grieve the loss of a young life cut short under heartbreaking circumstances.
