A two-year-old boy has fallen down an open drain outside his home in a South African township and drowned to death.

The incident took place in the suburb of Green Point in the township of Khayelitsha in the South African province of Western Cape at around 2.20pm on Sunday, 29th August.

The boy’s uncle Nkosikhona Swaartbooi said the victim was found by his mother Busisiwe Swaartbooi after the tot went missing around the house.

Little Imthande Swaartbooi’s body was found in an outside drain that had been left open, according to his uncle.

The local police said the boy was declared dead at the scene and his body was sent for an autopsy to establish the exact cause of death.

Nkosikhona said: “Imthande was not the first child to drown in that drain, but he is, unfortunately, the first one to die as a result of the City’s negligence in failing to fix broken, blocked, and overflowing drains in poor working-class communities.”

The uncle added that local residents have asked the authorities to carry out improvements in the area and cover the drain in question many times, however the council reportedly ignored all requests.

Police spokesman Joseph Swartbooi said the incident remains under investigation.