A Mpumalanga man who made headlines by killing a crocodile, accusing it of damaging his plants and eating his two dogs in 2006 which also landed him in police cells, has this time narrowly escaped from another crocodile and is recovering in hospital. 

Alex Masinga, 67, said when he felt the heat wave on Christmas Eve he decided to take a swim in the Mlumati River outside Malalane but didn’t know another crocodile was lying in wait. 

Masinga told Sowetan that before he even entered the water, the crocodile  attacked him and then went back into the river, leaving his back injured. 

“The story of a crocodile keeps coming back; this time around we were fighting  because I wanted to swim and cool myself. I could not even dip my feet into the river; when I turned my back to remove my underwear the crocodile attacked me while I was just on the bank of the river.

"It went back fast, I saw it going inside, and I couldn’t defend myself much this time around, I only punched it in the eye. It’s like this crocodile was avenging after I killed its friend in 2006,” said Masinga who works on a farm at KaMhlushwa.  

Spokesperson for the Mpumalanga department of cooperative governance and traditional affairs, George Mthethwa, told Sowetan the number of people who have died trying to swim either in rivers and dams has increased from 15 earlier in December to at least 19. 

“We are urging our people to refrain from consuming alcohol and then to go swimming either in rivers, dams and swimming pools. Alcohol and water don’t mix so people, especially the elders, should stop children [swimming] too. As we speak we have about 19 people in December only that have lost their lives trying to cool off. We understand the heat but people should be warned,” said Mthethwa