River baptism claims 14 lives

A 24-year-old mother has told of how she survived raging waters in the Jukskei River in Bramley, Johannesburg, which swept away 15 congregants, including her two children and their grandmother at the weekend.

Zikhona Renqe, her mother and two daughters – three-month-old Sinenhlanhla and Elihle, 3, and several other church members and visitors were swept away during a baptism ceremony on Saturday.

Emergency search and rescue teams recovered the bodies of seven people on Sunday morning, bring the death toll to nine. Later in the afternoon five more bodies of congregants were retrieved from the course of the river, raising the number of the deceased to 14. 

As the mission continues along the river for the missing people, Renqe recalled how she held her three-month-old baby while her mother was holding her other child as they stood in the river, shortly after there was a storm at about 5pm.

A relative of one of the missing people said some of the congregants had told her that it rained for about 30 minutes on Saturday afternoon and they had waited for the rain to stop before they could get into the water for the baptism service.

She said they stood on top of rocks and it was shallow but later she and other congregants realised they were in trouble.

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“The water suddenly became strong and it was all around us. The people standing on the side [in the water] were in shallower water so they instructed me to throw the baby and I did. One of them caught her but right after that my mother who had my three-year-old and I were swept away," she recalled.

"The water was so strong. As the water was taking me, there was a broken tree floating in the water;  I held on to it. I flowed with the tree further down the river. I was breathing heavily as I was scared.

"The tree took me to a [river] bank next to the Grayston bridge (about 2km away from baptism spot) where I was able to get out. I could not see my mother and the water was moving very fast. As I got out of the water, I though I would see my mother and my daughter but I didn't.

"One of the congregants found me at the river bank and helped me walk away as I was injured in my right leg. We rushed to where we (the congregants) had gathered [before the flash flood] and the man who was helping me called for assistance..."

Apart from her leg injury, Renge suffered bruises in her face, neck and other parts of the body.

She told of further heartbreak on hearing that the congregant who caught her baby was also swept away.

The priest was rescued near the Grayston bridge as well.

“When I found out that the priest was found, I hoped that he would be with my three-month-old baby. When I got to him, he just looked at me and said, ‘ngiyaxolisa’ (I am sorry). I just knew that my child was also swept away," said Renge.

She said since Saturday afternoon, she had hoped that her mother and children would be found alive.

"It is only hitting me now. I spent the night without them. I hardly slept, thinking about them. All I want is to find them. We have been sitting here since morning, hoping we would get some answers. I don’t think I will ever be the same after this," said a distraught Renge.

Johannesburg EMS spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi said a group of  33 congregants were performing a ritual at the stream along Corlett Drive when a storm broke.

“Rescue teams received a call around 5pm. On arrival, we found that there was a storm that led to the congregants being swept away. Of the 33 congregants, we managed to rescue one lady, and two people were confirmed dead on site and their bodies were recovered.”

There were still people missing when police called off the search mission by 6pm on Sunday. The search will resume on Monday.

Mulaudzi said families and fellow congregants had been advised to prepare for the worst as chances of finding their loved ones alive were slim.

Outside the Sandton fire station, many families waited anxiously to get news on whether the bodies of their loved were amongst those recovered. 

The families were busy with the identification process at the Sandton fire station were the bodies were take after being recovered from the river.

Emotions ran high as family members positively identified their loved ones from pictures taken by pathologists.

A convoy of vehicles from the forensic pathology arrived at the station to collect the bodies to take them to the mortuary late in the afternoon.

The Masola family said their 60-year-old mother Lizzy and her granddaughter Kgaugelo were among those who were missing.

Her daughter Phindile said they learnt of the incident through a community WhatsApp group at about 11.45pm.

“Because we knew that they had come here, we rushed here hoping to get answers but there was no one. All we want is their bodies and answers on what happened,” she said.

Phindile and her sisters sobbed uncontrollably when officials handed them their mother's clothes which were in a bag she had taken with her on the day.

A traumatised Decent Sibanda and a group of his brother were also hoping to find his partner Thokozile Maphosa who left their home in Alexandra at 11am on Saturday and never returned.

“When I called her phone around 4pm someone answered her phone, the person told me that they had been taken by the water. My heart almost stopped. I stand here a broken man.”

-sibiyan@sowetan.co.za