BOY (19) CLINGS TO TREE FOR 4HRS IN MIDDLE OF RIVER

NWENE – Khayalethu Vilakati, a 19-year-old boy, clung to tree branches in the middle of the raging Mkhondvo River for four hours after being swept downstream while attempting to cross.

He explained that his parents had sent him to buy mealie meal from the shops located on the opposite side of the rapidly flowing river. Initially intending to swim across, he changed his mind midway and struggled against the fast-moving water.

The Mkhondvo River was overflowing due to the recent torrential rains that affected the country.
Khayalethu was swept downstream for approximately 400 metres before two boys, Mzwandile Mkhatshwa and Sizolwethu Vilakati, who were relaxing on the riverbank, spotted him helplessly being carried away by the current.

The boys, nearly the same age as Khayalethu, quickly threw a pipe into his path in an attempt to rescue him. “We realised that the pipe plan was not working, so we pushed him with it towards a tree in the middle of the river so he could hold on to it,” Sizolwethu recounted as he described how they saved Khayalethu. After he successfully grabbed hold of the tree, they called for help.

Fortunately

Khayalethu endured four hours clinging to that tree in the Mkhondvo River before being rescued by the Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF) helicopter. Fortunately for him, the UEDF’s air wing has established a base in Nkwene, which is used to airlift food parcels to isolated chiefdoms such as Buseleni, Hlobane and Kuphumuleni. Recent heavy rains have damaged bridges and footbridges connecting these areas, leaving residents without access to stores and medical care.

The UEDF has also set up a mobile clinic on the other side of the Mkhondvo River to provide residents with immediate medical assistance. On Thursday, the helicopter was needed to airlift a woman in labour and to rescue another resident from the river.

The UEDF issued a stern warning to residents to avoid crossing the river, as the incidents of rescue have diverted them from their primary mission of delivering food parcels to affected communities. The Deputy Prime Minister’s office, through the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), has provided 200 food parcels, including rice, beans and cooking oil, to isolated communities.

Nkwene Member of Parliament Sikhumbuzo Dlamini stated that over 1 300 individuals have been affected by the situation. “We applaud government’s response to the situation and the support we are receiving from individuals such as the Minister for ICT, Savannah Maziya,” he said.

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