24-year-old Modisaotsile Ditira drowned while his friends took photos.
They had apparently never seen him swim and they were amazed as he took to the local dam at Schweizer-Reneke on Saturday.
So they took pictures using his cellphone with the intention of showing them to him when he got out of the water.
But the friends did not know that they were saying goodbye. Modisaotsile went further into the dam and drowned.
One of the friends, Pako Sere (27), told Daily Sun: "We were just having fun when Modisaotsile took off his clothes and decided to swim. Unlike us, he was not drunk so we thought he knew what he was doing. With excitement we took out our cellphones and took picture of him.
"When we realised the water was swallowing our friend, it was already too late. He was far and none of us knew how to swim so we could not save him.
"We wanted to save his life so we called a sangoma who is well-known in the area for saving drowning people. We knew divers could not be there as quick as the sangoma. We paid the sangoma R300 to save our friend. When he came out of the water, he told us Modisaotsile was dead," said Pako.
The body of Modisaotsile was taken out of the water by divers on Sunday after a long search.
Modisaotsile's mother, Molemoeng Ditira (43), said her son was very helpful around their house.
"He was a peace-loving and very friendly person," she said.
Dam caretaker, Ontshireleditse Seane, said he warned the boys not to get into the water because they were drunk but they refused to listen.
Police spokesman Colonel Sabata Mokgwabone confirmed the incident and said an inquest docket had been opened.
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