Lt Col Malesela Ledwaba, the police spokesperson, said that the victim (26) and his colleague (34) were on the dam on the farm Thiergarten on Tuesday, September 6 in the Ritavi area when the nets they were trying to remove, were caught by a crocodile. The crocodile managed to pull away, the canoe capsized and both the farm workers fell into the dam. One of them managed to swim out while the other man drowned.

They were not wearing life jackets. The police’s search and rescue unit was called but they were not able to retrieve the deceased from the dam before dark. They also had to acquire suitable equipment to repel the hippopotamuses and crocodiles in the dam. On Wednesday they resumed their work but were accosted by an aggressive hippo and it took many hours to retrieve the deceased’s body eventually.

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The deceased was identified as Guidance Manganye from Giyani. The provincial commissioner of police in Limpopo, Lt Gen Thembi Hadebe praised the team for their work. “These are members whose task is to carry out rescue operations and save lives, even under extreme and strenuous circumstances. I am really proud of this dedicated winning team which is always geared towards bringing back smiles to the faces and closures to the affected families,” she said. Police have opened an inquest docket. The investigation is ongoing.