13-year-old boy snatched by a crocodile, mum still in denial

THE mother of a 13-year-old boy snatched by a crocodile while bathing has said she is still in denial, she still think he will just walk into the house.

Tragic Willard Sandani's body is yet to be found almost a week after the incident last Sunday.

On a visit to the village of Batiti under Chief Sengwe in Chiredzi on Thursday, our news crew heard heart-rending eye witness accounts of the tragedy.

A 10-year-old girl, part of a group that was engaged in water sports with some boys in Mwenezi River, including Willard, said she was having nightmares - because they had grabbed his clothes, delaying his exit from the water, unaware he was in grave danger.

"I feel guilty. If we didn't take his clothes, the tragedy would not have happened," the 10-year- old girl said.

"We were just playing games with the boys and didn't know it would lead to Willard's death."

The girl, along with her three mates, had also been bathing on a section of the river, away from the boys - Willard, his young brother and three friends.

When time came to leave, the girls walked towards the boys, and then playfully grabbed their clothes while daring the lads to come out undressed.

Willard's 11-year-old friend, struggling to speak coherently, remembers: "The water level was low on the day and Willard's brother and others finished bathing and dressed up.

"But before I and Willard could emerge from the water, some mischievous girls from the village who were bathing at the upper part of the river emerged and took our clothes."

The boy said they could not come out of the water undressed and took time appealing to the girls to give them back their clothes.

"It was during this time that Willard was snatched. I suddenly felt the splashing of water and within a moment Willard disappeared from us," he said.

"I cannot recount what happened at that moment as everyone was plunged into confusion. We later saw the crocodile, about 20 metres from where we were standing, emerging on top of the water with its jaws locked onto Willard's neck."

The juvenile said they saw Willard, his legs up, struggling to free himself before the crocodile disappeared again with him.
"It was painful and up to now I am terrified," the lad said, sobbing.

Willard's mother, Emelina Makabeni, 40, is still struggling with the idea that her son just disappeared. She says she will not get closure until his body is found.

"I don't know what this means. I'm confused. I don't believe that my son has just disappeared as simple as that, only God knows the reason I'm being punished," she said tearfully.

Sarah Mahutse, 64, a neighbour, had a torrid time trying to console Makabeni, telling her that God would give her some answers.

"She's in deep pain and needs some time so that she can complete the grieving process. The whole village is also in shock because of the incident," Mahutse said.

Willard's father, Gideon, 49, wants the government to lead efforts to recover his son's remains. He said mourners gathered for a funeral but had to disperse after a day because there was no body to bury.

"I can't believe that my son was snatched by a crocodile and his body can't be located up to this day," he said.

He wants the Parks and Wildlife officials to hunt down the reptile and kill it.

Bigboy Mapimele, who teamed up with other villagers to search for the boy's remains and the reptile, said they did all they could but the body was not found. There was also no sighting of the crocodile.

Willard was snatched at around 5pm and from that time up until around 10pm, villagers tried in vain to locate his body, and the reptile.

"We managed to identify a cave which we thought could have been used by the crocodile to hide its prey, and we even used logs to poke inside. There was nothing," Mapimele said.

Sandani said while he has managed to be psychologically and emotionally strong for his family's sake, it will take time before he forgets the horrific incident.

He fears for Willard's brother, who watched helplessly while the carnivorous reptile grabbed Willard.

Willard's brother was said to be away herding cattle when our news crew visited.

Villagers said cases of crocodile attacks have been experienced in the past but have not resulted in any deaths.