Man’s body recovered from dam in Pretoria

The body of a man, who died in a boating accident at the weekend, was retrieved from the Roodeplaat Dam near Pretoria on Tuesday afternoon.

Although Tshwane emergency service department spokesperson Charles Mabaso said the body was that of Christo Fritz, the body has not yet been formally identified by his family.

Fritz went missing after the boat he and his friend were travelling in was swept over the dam wall on Saturday. “The search teams managed to find him,” Mabaso said.

The friend Fritz was with on the boat managed to escape.

A family member said the two men had taken the boat out onto the dam to test its engine. The boat lost power and subsequently stopped.

Thus far, four people were confirmed to have lost their lives during the widespread floods over the weekend.

The search was also continuing for three other people – an Uber driver and his two passengers – in the Irene area who were believed to have been swept away in Olifantspruit in Midstream.