MBOMBELA – Local police divers have had to endure ice-cold hippo-infested waters this weekend when they retrieved the body of an alleged fish poacher on Saturday. This was the third drowning in the Crocodile River which they had to attend to in three weeks.
Capt Pottie Potgieter of the Inland Water Police and Diving Services, told Lowvelder that they were summoned to the scene at Friedenheim compound at about 12:00. “It is situated on the road to the Agricultural College, at the intersection which leads to KaNyamazane,” he explained.
Upon arrival Potgieter and his team established that the victim had constructed a floating device by tying a rope around a tyre. He used a concrete and wooden stick as an oar. “He was rowing across the Crocodile River, throwing out nets when the tube overturned and he drowned,” Potgieter said.
The victim, a 47-year-old Mozambican national who has been identified as Mr Emmanuel Baroso, was accompanied by children who alerted people of the compound who then in turn called the police. Potgieter and his team faced great danger when they arrived – a hippo bull, cow and their calf were swimming in the river.
They had to act fast. Potgieter went into the water, following the instructions of bystanders about where exactly the victim had disappeared under water. He was lucky to find the body within five minutes – five metres beneath the surface.
Potgieter added they were recently summoned to a scene at Vaalbank in the Highveld where another alleged fish poacher drowned in the Rhenosterkop Dam. “He was in a canoe on the river which tipped over when he pulled in the nets.”
Community members complained that the fish population in the dam had almost been depleted because of illegal fishing. The incident occurred at night and although he was accompanied by another individual, he couldn’t give divers a proper indication of where the man had gone under water. Potgieter and his team dived for seven days, covering a range of about three rugby fields, to no avail. The body finally surfaced on the seventh day and was retrieved.
Not only have divers been busy recovering the bodies of drowning victims, but they made coincidental discoveries of stolen property and even an assault rifle. “We dive at bridges on a regular basis to do routine checks. People often drown here unnoticed or are murdered and their bodies disposed of,” Potgieter explained.
They dived at a bridge on the N4 near eMalahleni crossing the Olifants River, when they came across on R1-rifle and a quad bike which had been reported as stolen. The R1 has been sent for ballistic testing to establish if it has been used in any crime.
