Rundu
Forty-six year old Mathew Kativa is still in Rundu Intermediary Hospital, where he was rushed to after he miraculously survived a vicious crocodile attack.
The incident occurred in the Kavango River at Shankara village in the Ndonga Linena Constituency of Kavango East Region. It is understood the crocodile caught and injured, as well as severed Kativa’s right arm, but fortunately his brave wife wrestled the crocodile and saved him from a gruesome death.
“I went to do the laundry by the riverside and he (Kavita) later followed me. While I was busy washing he went into the water to swim and after he applied soap wanted to rinse off the soap and so he went deeper into the river.
“I just heard a big sound, there was splashing in the water. Everything happened so fast and I ran to help my husband. We struggled in the water as the crocodile was pulling him deeper into the river,” narrated Elizabeth Shintango, 33, the wife of the victim.
According to Shintano, after struggling for some time to fight off the hungry beast she thought she had lost the fight to save her husband, but became hopeful when she saw his hand surfacing from beneath the water.
“I just saw his hand surfacing and I pulled him out of the river onto land. As we came out we realised the crocodile had bitten off his right hand as he tried to get dressed, but [just then] the crocodile ran out of the water towards us and I pulled my husband away and we ran for safety, without him getting dressed,” she said.
The near-fatal croc attack occurred near Ndonga Linena Councillor Petrus Kavhura’s home, who soon heard about the incident and rushed the couple to Nyangana Hospital, from where the victim was soon referred to Rundu Intermediate Hospital due to the seriousness of his injuries.
Kativa is reported to be in a stable condition now, but is still in hospital where he is currently receiving treatment after he was transferred there almost two weeks ago.
Villagers along the Kavango and Zambezi rivers are prone to crocodile attacks because they depend on the river for water for cooking purposes and for a multiplicity of other household chores. Despite appearing rather docile, crocodiles are highly intelligent and usually monitor certain spots along the river for weeks, if not months, before they ambush their victims.
Riverine communities are susceptible to these croc attacks, because the places where they usually fetch water from, or go to swim, do not have crocodile-proof low-voltage electric fences. Several people lost their lives to crocodiles along the Kavango River last year.