Vusumuzi Dube
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
VILLAGERS living close to the Zambezi River in Binga have continued to lose life and limb to crocodiles and hippos as they either cross to trade across the river, fetch water or engage in fishing expeditions.
Their domestic animals have also not been spared in the attacks in the big river that borders Zimbabwe and Zambia. The river has over the years been a source of livelihood for the Tonga people of Binga who call it Kasambabezi, but it has also been a death trap as crocodiles and hippos have not spared fishermen and women who use the river daily.
Although locals now know where there is the largest infestation of crocodiles and hippos and go where there are fewer to swim, fetch water or bath, visitors who do not know where the danger is, are likely to face the wrath of the predators. Mr Phineas Mudenda a fisherman, who lives on the shores of the Zambezi River in Binga survived a crocodile attack in August last year said he was lucky to be alive.
“I was coming from my fishing expedition and I was sitting in front of the boat with my legs in the water. That is when the crocodile grabbed my legs but my colleague reacted swiftly as he stopped the boat and pulled me into the boat and took me to safety on the shores. I was taken home and then to a clinic for further treatment as I had sustained serious injuries,” he said.
It is however, surprising that Mr Mudenda is back in the river after his near-death experience. He said he had no other form of support for his family except fishing in the river. This is the tragedy of many men and women who rely on the Zambezi River for their livelihood as they are forced to return to the same river that has taken many lives in order for them to earn a living. Another fisherman spoke on the traits of the crocodiles after years of observing them while they worked on the river.
“Usually, a person dies through drowning when the crocodile bites you, it takes you underwater, and ordinarily you die, these reptiles have a tendency of hiding their prey between reeds underwater and only feed on the bodies outside the water at night. The crocodile takes the prey out on the riverbank and feeds on it before returning to the water. The other man who was bitten by a crocodile in April was dragged into the reeds and the crocodile went away. That is why his body was not devoured because we retrieved it soon enough with the assistance of sea divers,” he said.
Mr Ben Munkuli, the chairman of the fishing rigs committee said crocodiles were a challenge.
“Crocodiles are a challenge, in 2021 we lost nine people here after they were attacked by crocodiles. This year we have lost two people so far, one of them just two months ago. There are many crocodiles here, even hippos are a challenge too. Women are affected when they come to the river to fetch water, it’s a problem to us.
“We have told the local council but there is nothing they can do, there was a suggestion that they would put a cage in the place where they want to fetch water so that they are safe if the crocodiles try to attack.
However, we are still waiting for them to erect that cage but in the meantime, women are not safe,” he added.
Women who sell their wares to fishermen on the banks of the Zambezi River in Binga said they were making a living out of selling but were not entirely safe.
“We have been selling vegetables, cooking oil, drinks, bread, and snacks to the fishermen and we are surviving on that. We wait on the river banks and when the rigs dock in the morning the fishermen purchase from us and mostly, we trade the wares for kapenta that we sell and send our children to school and pay rentals where we stay too,” said Ms Kelina Muleya.
She said they have witnessed people being attacked by crocodiles.
“We were here when a man was attacked by a crocodile while fishing on the river bank. He had thrown his fishing line into the water and he was standing on the riverbank when his fishing line was obstructed and he went into the water assuming it was being disturbed by reeds. When he entered the water to remove the obstructions he was attacked and killed,” he said.
The residents also spoke about a man who had gone to take a bath in the river but was fortunate enough that the crocodile somehow bit the bucket he was using and he fell into the water and was saved by passersby before the crocodile attacked him. @NyembeziMu
Online Reporter