Man saves animals, but loses nearly everything

With raging floodwater all around him, a local farmer risked his life to save his farm animals caught in the rapids as onlookers watched in horror and disbelief, praying the man would not drown.

The farmer, Patrick Davids, managed to save his 10 horses and a dog from drowning in the flood, by diving into the water and pulling the animals to safety one by one.  However, his house and business did not go unscathed.

Following torrential rain across parts of the Lowveld on Tuesday December 7, Machadodorp seemed to have received the brunt of it as flash flooding and hail hit the town.

Speaking to Lowvelder, Davids’ father-in-law, Muller Venter, said he had been a true hero, but was not doing well following the loss of much of his livelihood on Tuesday afternoon.

He said his grandchildren were visiting his son-in-law for the December holidays when tragedy struck.

“Patrick is well known in the area as the ‘horse whisperer’ and is living his passion daily working with horses,” said Venter.  “Not only is it his passion, but his sole form of income to provide for his family.”

ALSO READ: WATCH: Heavy rain across the Lowveld

Muller said Davids lost a part of his wood cabin home, furniture, clothes, food and much of the tools he needs to work.

“His vehicle, horses and other animals were dragged down into the floodwater. He was really a hero and showed his bravery by jumping into that water and saving all his animals. He was not able to retrieve his vehicle.”

Community members and other farmers at first watched on and took photos and videos of Davids saving his animals. One woman commented in a video, “What he is doing is so dangerous.”

Venter said that soon, other locals jumped in to help with the rescue efforts and thankfully nobody was harmed.

Although his bravery and heroism saved his animals, Venter said Davids and his family are left without a home, clothes and many other essentials.

“We ask anyone who can help with donations such as clothes and food and any other essentials, to please do so,” said Venter. “Any other form of assistance will be greatly appreciated.”

To assist the Davids family, contact Venter on 079 413 2520.

Meanwhile, torrential rain in Waterval Boven caused the Elands River, its tributaries and the Emgwenya Waterfall to swell and flood.

Scores of videos and images of the surging rivers and falls circulated across social media on Tuesday. Some residents were concerned the river might flood parts of the town. This video can be seen on lowvelder.co.za.

A resident, Themba Masha, who had taken a video and photos of the river and falls, said they were both still surging by Wednesday mid-morning.

Capt Pottie Potgieter, of the Ehlanzeni Diving Unit in White River, confirmed that while flash floods had occurred in the Elands River, there has only been a slight increase in the Crocodile River’s level. The unit is on high alert, but not too concerned at this stage.

“It is only when Kwena and Vygeboom dams breach their walls, when there’s a real concern for residents downstream,” he said.

No loss of life or missing persons have been reported.

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The Department of Water and Sanitation’s spokesperson, Sputnik Ratau, confirmed that the dam management process would be implemented to avoid any, or as little as possible, disruption downstream. “We are carefully monitoring the inflow and weather predictions,” he said.

According to the South African Weather Services, rain is in the forecast for the next week, but at the time of going to press, there were no adverse weather warnings/watches.

The dam levels, last measured on Monday, showed that in the Lowveld and Ehlanzeni District, Blyderivierpoort Dam increased from 83.5% to 84.1%, Buffelskloof from 54.7% to 67.5%, Klipkopjes from 87.9% to 89.1%, Witklip from 83.9% to 86.3%, Primkop from 80% to 91.6%, Kwena from 73.1% to 74.2%, Da Gama from 89.6% to 91.8% and Ohrigstad from 27.7% to 28.7%. In the Gert Sibande District, Vygeboom increased from 94.2% to 96.6%.

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