Shark kills poacher

2004-06-07 08:46

Francois de Jongh

Gansbaai - A perlemoen poacher was attacked by a shark near Pearly Beach while his accomplices watched.

Anglers found the body of a man late on Sunday at Quinn Point near Buffelsjag, about 10km from Pearly Beach on the southern coast of the Western Cape. Police said body parts were missing, but it was not yet known if it was the body of the missing man. Nkosinathi Mayaba, 21, accompanied by two other divers, was swimming back to the beach about 15:00 last Wednesday after they had been diving for perlemoen.

Lunga Molusi, who acted as lookout for the divers from the beach, said the men were about 400m from the beach when he heard a blood-curdling yell. He saw a "big fish" jumping out of the water with Mayaba in his jaws. "The fish had him by the waist with his torso and his legs sticking out at the sides."

Blood in the water

He said there was a lot of blood in the water. They waited about two hours for Mayaba to re-appear, but there was no sign of him.

The men did not report the incident to police, as they were afraid of being charged for poaching.

Nontlylha Dlovo of Masakhane in Gansbaai, a relative of Mayaba, went to enquire from the men where he was when he failed to return home. They told her the gruesome tale and she went to the police on Thursday.

Captain William Reid said police divers combed the beaches, but had found nothing by Sunday.

According to other divers, who regularly poach from boats in the area, divers are frequently seen swimming from the beach to Dyer Island.

- Die Burger