Daily Sun (August 26 2013) - NDUDUZO was a loving little boy full of fun . . . When he set off for school last Thursday, he told his gogo cheerfully how much he loved her. NOW THE GRIEVING MBASA FAMILY HAVE ONLY HIS JOKES TO COMFORT THEM!
Nduduzo (9) drowned that afternoon - although he had taught himself to be a good swimmer. He lived with his gogo Hilda Mbasa (67) in Haniville, near Pietermaritzburg, as his mum lived elsewhere in KZN.
Gogo said the happy grade 4 pupil at Copesville Primary School was her Ben 10 and was always telling jokes. "I called him my Ben 10 as we used to joke about girlfriends and boyfriends.
"On the morning of the day he died he joked that he had three girlfriends and wanted to know who my boyfriend was," she said. "He said he would tell me his girlfriends' names if I told him my boyfriend's name. And he said nothing would change if I had a boyfriend as he loved me more than them.
"I told him he was the only boyfriend I had now since I had lost his grandfather, my husband. We laughed when I reminded him that he was my Ben 10 forever," said gogo Hilda.
Hilda said she last saw Nduduzo when he said goodbye to her on leaving for school.
"When he returned from school I was in the garden as usual. He didn't fetch the key himself, but sent one of his friends," said gogo. "He went home, changed his clothes and went to play.
"Three hours later, a neighbouring boy who had been playing with him came to tell me that Nduduzo had drowned."
It's said Nduduzo and his friends were playing at a stream when they spotted a boogie board floating on the water. Nduduzo jumped into the water to get the board - and drowned.
Gogo Hilda said: "I believe he didn't want to see me after returning to school as he had said his final goodbye in the morning. We will be comforted by his jokes," said Hilda.
Nduduzo loved sport, she said. "He played football and he liked swimming. I don't understand how he could have drowned when he could swim," said Hilda.
Relatives think a snake could have pulled him down. Aunt Nomfundo Mbasa (16) said she kept visiting the stream in the hope of finding clues or seeing the snake.
"I believe there's a snake. His friends said they saw something turn the boogie board and disappear under water. He couldn't have been killed by the water as he swam well," said Nomfundo. Lieutenant Joey Jeevan said cops were investigating.
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