LISTEN | Woman’s body recovered in Klip River days after duo swept away during cleansing ritual

Johannesburg emergency management services (EMS) personnel have recovered the body of an “unidentified female” in the Klip River five days after two young people drowned during a cleansing ritual at the stream.

The service on Saturday said its aquatic rescue unit, with the police water wing, were searching for the bodies of an 18-year-old female and 21-year-old male after they were swept away on Friday in Olifantsvlei.

The search continued on Sunday until Monday afternoon, but was suspended to allow the crew “options to explore while giving the river stream [a chance] to give off ... until Tuesday morning”.

EMS spokesperson Xolile Khumalo on Wednesday confirmed the recovery of a body from the stream after the search resumed.

Listen here:

“The search and rescue teams have recovered the body of an unidentified female in Klip River on the N1 bridge.

“We're not certain whether the body is [one of] the two people who allegedly drowned on Saturday evening in Olifantsvlei. We will release a statement as soon as we have further details,” she said.

This latest incident comes a week after search and rescue teams recovered the body of an unidentified teenage boy from the Klipspruit stream. The 18-year-old was swept away last Tuesday after he apparently tried to cross the stream from Klipspruit West to Kliptown, EMS said at the time. 

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