Two saved, seven still missing after two boats go down off Cape Town

Two survivors were rescued from the sea with severe hypothermia on Thursday amid a hunt for nine alleged abalone poachers off Cape Town's Atlantic seaboard.

The men were flown to a rescue base at Clifton, said National Sea Rescue Institute spokesperson Craig Lambinon.

They were spotted about 1,400m off Bakoven several hours into the search for the nine missing men.

Lambinon said the air and sea search for the remaining alleged poachers was continuing between Oudekraal and Mouille Point.

A rigid inflatable, which was partly submerged, had been located and was towed to Cape Town harbour.

When the boat was pulled out of the water at the harbour, several abalone could be seen lying on the deck.

Police spokesperson Sgt Noloyiso Rwexana said two boats launched from Hout Bay, carrying a total of 13 people, around 8pm on Wednesday.

"One boat was filled with water and the crew jumped over to the other boat. The second boat capsized with all 13 people," she said.

Before the rescue of two men off Bakoven, Rwexana said: "Four were found alive while nine are still missing and are being sought."

A Clifton resident said one man from the boat swam ashore on the beach and asked for assistance for his crewmates. 

Residents of Hangberg, in Hout Bay, who were observing the search from the shore, said their "friends" had been forced into poaching by low quotas for the abalone fishery, blaming the government for the men's plight.

NSRI crews from Hout Bay, Bakoven and Table Bay were involved in the search, which was taking place between two and three nautical miles offshore, and they were being assisted by helicopters from emergency medical service and the SA Air Force.

Lambinon said family members of the missing men were being tracked down.