Man drowns while survivor swims to shore

What should have been a fun-filled day in the sun at Klipfontein Dam turned into a tragedy when a 59-year-old man known by his colleagues as Mr Dlamini drowned on Sunday. It is said that Dlamini was a kind-hearted man who would surprise his employees/colleagues on occasion with an outing. This is what happened on Sunday when Dlamini, who is originally from Empangeni but lived and worked in Vryheid, invited all his neighbours whom he’d gotten to know well for a relaxing day at the dam.
He was employed at Zululand District Municipality, where he occupied a managerial position in the Department of Health.

Bystanders who were part of the event told the Vryheid Herald that Dlamini took his canoe along, since he was an adventurous person. He and a friend got into the canoe and rowed out onto the water. It is said that he got ‘a bit excited’ and even showed off that he could stand up with his hands in the air. It was when they turned the canoe around to go back to shore that it capsized. His friend is a fairly good swimmer and made it back to shore easily. However, witnesses say that Dlamini fought valiantly and tried to stay afloat by holding onto the canoe, but unfortunately he slipped under the water. The group of friends tried to help him, but they couldn’t see him at that stage.

Frikkie Bekker of KwaZulu Private Ambulance Services and his crew, as well as the Vryheid K-9 Search & Rescue Unit and AbaQulusi Fire & Rescue were dispatched to the scene. Frikkie said they tried to pinpoint the area where Dlamini drowned, but the friend was too traumatised and battled to give proper estimations at the time. The groundwork at a drowning scene is crucial, as this helps the Search & Rescue teams to find the body. Frikkie and the rest of the crew went into the water to see if they could find the body before it dropped deeper into the water, but were unsuccessful since daylight was fading fast.

On Monday morning, Warrant Officers Herbst and Gumbi from Empangeni Search & Rescue geared up and with the assistance of Warrant Officer Sabelo Nkosi and his dog ‘Achil’ went out on a rescue boat. The ‘canine officer’ is trained to identify the smell of human remains (even in water), which gives the divers an indication of where to search for the body. Unfortunately, Achil couldn’t pick up a scent and W/O Nkosi took him out on a ‘closer to the water’ boat. The team made three attempts, but the dog still couldn’t pick up a scent. Another dog from Newcastle was deployed to assist Achil in the search. If the dogs can’t pick up a scent, the sad reality is that they have to wait for the body to surface after a few days.

The office of the Zululand District Municipality has confirmed that Mfaniseni Dlamini was a staff member, and that he reportedly drowned and the authorities are still searching for the body.
Dlamini’s friends, who waited at the tragic scene while the teams searched, commented that ‘he recently referred to his own death a lot… as if he knew that his end was near’.

By Monday afternoon, the body had still not been found. At the time of going to print, no new developments on the search had been reported.

Condolences to Mfaniseni Dlamini’s friends, colleagues and family.

ALSO READ: Spur-of-the-moment ‘hero’ prevents double drowning at Bloemveld Dam

The news provided to you in this link comes to you from the editorial staff of the Vryheid Herald, a sold newspaper distributed in the Vryheid area.

Click to receive news links via WhatsApp. Or for the latest news, visit our webpage or follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Join us there!