A trip to harvest grasshoppers in a nearby village nearly ended in tragedy for a Limpopo family after a mother and her two daughters were trapped on a river “island” for three days.
Thizwikoni Mahosi and her daughters, Phophi Khomola, 16, and Murunwa Khomola, 18, were trapped by the Mutale River last Sunday and had to be airlifted three days later.
The three had gone to Matatani village to harvest grasshoppers for food last Saturday.
“We spent the whole of Saturday night catching locusts and we slept in Matatani,” said Mahosi, a traditional healer.
On their return home last Sunday afternoon, they discovered the Mutale River was flooding and they could not cross back to their village. They decided to go back, but could not cross a second river. They found themselves trapped on an “island” between the Mutale River and a stream running to their village.
They slept on a small spot on muddy ground which was not covered with water. They did not have cellphones with them.
They spent most of the night shouting for help, but nobody could hear them, as most people in nearby villages were also dealing with flooding.
“On Monday morning we kept shouting for help, and eventually one person came and went to call others. They realised how angry the river was and the floodwater was very powerful. There was nothing they could do to help us,” said Mahosi.
A neighbour called police, but they could also not help.
“Police came and took pictures of us while we were stranded. Nothing happened on Monday. We waited in agony with the hope help was on the way. But the day went into night, and we spent another night trapped there,” Mahosi told Sowetan.
She said every time they saw movement, their hopes would grow, only to be disappointed again.
On Tuesday afternoon help arrived. However, a team of rescue workers could not get into the river as it was flowing powerfully.
“I believe God exists. The clothes we wore felt like blankets. We were warm. We didn’t feel hungry. We spent three days without eating anything. I don’t know how we survived. I told myself I will not question God.
“I thought maybe that day we were going to be swallowed by the raging river and we wouldn’t make it. I had accepted. I was fearing for my life and my children’s lives,” said Mahosi.
TimesLIVE
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