'I killed croc with my panga'
2006-10-23 23:42
Zinkie Sithole and Thabisile Khoza
Tonga - An Mpumalanga man is being hailed as a "Crocodile Dundee" after waging a four-hour battle with a huge crocodile on Sunday - and living to tell the tale.
Alex Masinga, 58, of KaMhlushwa in Nkomazi said he defended himself against the 2.7m female by wrestling with it, and then finally plunging his arm down the croc's throat and driving his new panga into her vital organs.
Fellow villagers initially refused to believe Masinga's story, but doubt turned to hero worship when he took them to the large corpse.
Masinga spent much of Monday posing with the crocodile for local photographers, showing off his gnawed calf where she first bit him on a tributary of the Umlati River.
"I was farming my vegetable patch on Sunday, and it was very hot. The stream was right there, so I grabbed my panga and water bottle to collect some water," said Masinga.
He said he was ankle deep when the crocodile latched on to his calf from behind and started dragging him into the water.
Kept on twisting the panga
"I fought fiercely not to be dragged into the deep water, but the crocodile was too strong. The water was up to my chest and I told myself the only way to survive was to use my new panga," he said.
Masinga said he shoved his panga down the crocodile's throat and started twisting it.
"Once that panga was in there I kept on twisting and twisting until the crocodile started to float and I knew I had survived," he said.
He then went home to get another panga to slice open the giant croc and retrieve his new panga, but first stopped for a celebratory drink at a shebeen to boast with some home-made beer about his great escape.
But, his friends thought he was telling a tall tale.
"They thought I was drunk and talking nonsense, so I took them to the crocodile so they could see with their own eyes," he said.
Police and conservation authorities soon got wind of the story and went to fetch the crocodile. Officials who examined the corpse later found 37 eggs inside her.
Masinga said: "I still want my panga back. It has a special place in my heart. It saved me from the vicious jaws of that crocodile."
Conservation authorities didn't find the panga and don't believe Masinga's story. They believe he is a poacher who deliberately trapped and killed the crocodile.
Wouldn't be alive today
Nkomazi wildlife protection services manager Sam Malindisa said: "The crocodile had wire around its neck and pieces of a fishing net in its mouth."
"If that crocodile attacked him, I am certain he would not be alive today. It's uncharacteristic for a crocodile to grab the leg. They instinctively jump for the neck or stomach."
Tonga police spokesperson constable Mzwandile Nyambi said the station would organise for Masinga to have counselling.