Warden: The Sasolburg Police Search and Rescue team together with Welkom Diving Unit retrieved two bodies of father and son from the Cornelius River near Ezenzeleni-Warden.

It is alleged that the ex-boyfriend, Bafana Radebe (25) had an argument with the mother of his toddler, Sesi Radebe (20) who was walking with her son, Motivation Radebe (3) to report him to the police.

It is alleged that on Saturday, 3 July 2022 at about 13:15 Bafana went to Sesi's home where he tried to strangle. She started walking to the police station in Warden to report him but he followed them. He finally caught them near Cornelius River before crossing over the bridge. He again tried to strangle and throw her inside the river but failed as she managed to escape left him with the toddler.

A community member witnessed when the father threw the son inside the river and also jumped into same river.

The matter was reported to the police in which Sasolburg K9 Search and Rescue Unit was summoned to the scene. They contacted Welkom Diving Unit for support, which came on Sunday morning and successfully retrieved the two bodies which were positively identified by both families.

"It's a sad incident to the families, especially to mother of the child but I humbly request women experiencing any form of abuse to break the silence and report the abusers immediately. I want to thank our Free State police Search and Rescue and Diving Units for not tiring in bringing the service to our community under this challenging and cold weather conditions", said the Free State Provincial Commissioner, Lt Gen Baile Motswenyane.

Source: South African Police Service