Family seek closure after teen swept away in flooded Mpumalanga river

A Mpumalanga family is mourning the loss of 18-year-old Andile Mkhatshwa who was swept away in the flooded Mlumati River on Sunday.

Mkhatshwa's sister Robyn Nkosazane Mpofu said their mother had collapsed and was taken to a clinic on Wednesday as she could not cope with the loss.

“The family is not coping at all. We need closure. If we can find his body and bury him, it will help,” she said.

Mpofu described her brother as a hard-working and smart pupil. He was in grade 12 at Shongwe High School in Driekoppies.

Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brig Selvy Mohlala said the teenager and his friend had tried to cross the river at lunchtime on Sunday.

“They were swept away. The victim's friend managed to grab reeds which worked to his favour.”

Another victim was a man in his 60s from Kamdladla.

The man asked a friend to accompany him to the river where he had set a fish trap on Thursday.

The man went into the overflowing river and was swept away.

Another man, 62, was rescued after attempting to cross the Komati River.

Mohlala said the man was driving in his bakkie when he got stuck on a bridge.

The man managed to get out of his car in time and onto a rock in the middle of the fast-flowing water.

“Help was summoned and he was rescued by members of the police search and rescue team.”

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