Missing Free State boys feared to have drowned in Liebenbergvlei river

There have been some tragic developments in the search for two Free State children who went missing last week Thursday, with police now preparing to deploy diving units and search the Liebenbergvlei river where they believe the boys may have drowned. 

Free State children go missing  

South African Police Service (SAPS) spokesperson Brigadier Motantsi Makhele said that the 14-year-old school boys from the LT Nhlabathi School went missing at about 10:00 on Thursday 4 March after they and another school boy of their same age went walking together to the river not far from their homes in Bohlokong, Bethlehem to pick up herbs. On their way home, the missing boys took a different route to the one taken by their classmate, and that was the last time he saw them.

Siphiwe Mlangeni and Moratehi Radebe didn’t return home and a police investigation into their disappearances was launched with urgency. 

Makhele said that a police search team was established to search for the missing children, with a case of a missing person has been opened and being investigated.

Police deploy diving units  

Unfortunately, it seems that these efforts to find the children over the weekend have proved unsuccessful though, and an update provided by Makhele on Monday 8 March suggests that police are becoming less and less hopeful that they will recover the boys alive. 

“Investigation into the two missing boys revealed that the boys allegedly drowned in the Liebenbergvlei River in Bohlokong, Bethlehem,” said Makhele.  

“The SAPS Diving Unit was mobilised to resume with the search on Friday 5 March 2021 but due to the high level of water and heavy current, the search had to be called off, whilst arrangements were been made to close the valves.”

He said that the search will now resume to find out if the boys have indeed drowned, and this is confirmed the teams will endeavour to retrieve their bodies.