An 11-year-old boy died in a freak accident at home after hanging himself with a belt while playing in the bathroom.
Mikail Arendse was in Grade 4 at Delft Primary School.
He was rushed to Delft Day Hospital on Thursday where he was declared dead on arrival.
A spokesperson said the family was too traumatised to speak to media on Friday.
The boy’s single mom lives in a Wendy house and has two older children, aged 13 and 17. “The mother is in a state and cannot speak now,” the spokesperson said.
She says the boy was playing while the mom was hanging up laundry.
“She had asked him to help her with the washing after he had returned from church. He was in a happy mood. He was in the bathroom and she called out to him because she wanted him to bring a load of dirty washing. He took too long and when she realised she didn’t see him passing her while she stood in the kitchen, she went to investigate.
“She also called out to him, thinking he is may be hiding away. That was when she found him hanging from the belt on the tiny rail in the bathroom. It seemed he had slipped on magazines and could not get his balance. It was an accident, he was playing. His pulse was slow and they rushed him to hospital.”
The spokesperson added rumours that the boy had committed suicide because he was being bullied “were not true”.
Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Andrè Traut says no foul play was suspected and a death inquest case docket has been registered.