Port St Johns shark death

Tuesday 27 January 2009

An off-duty lifeguard was killed by what the Natal Sharks Board says was a Bull shark while bodysurfing Second Beach in Port St Johns on Saturday, reports Wavescape.

The nature of the injuries to Sikhanyiso Bangilizwe, 26, suggest it was a 2.5 metre Bull (Zambezi) shark, the NSB has confirmed to Wavescape. There were three separate bites.

There has been a lot of finger pointing - as it does when someone gets killed by a shark - with people claiming that effluent and bad waste management were the culprits.

Jeremy Cliff, head of the NSB Research Unit, said this was "unlikely". The bottom line was that "Port st Johns has a very large river coming into the sea near this bathing beach. Large estauries and river mouths contain a lot of fish, and Zambezi sharks are attracted to the fish."

He was also bemused by claims by a resident that "Port St Johns had never had sharks until two years ago". For a region as rich in shark species as the Wild Coast, this was "hard to believe". The Umzimvubu River is a known area where Bull sharks give birth to their young. 

However, one realistic cause for concern is that sangomas are alleged to throw offal and leftover meat into the sea after their rituals.

According to some locals talking to Wavescape, the shark death was indirectly linked to another fatality the day after, on Sunday, when a soccer player drowned at the same beach. A report in the East London newspaper the Daily Dispatch said that Themba Sodo, 20, drowned after he went to fetch a soccer ball and was swept out to sea by a strong current. The beach was supposed to have been closed after the attack, and locals claim, lifeguards were slow in responding to the rescue.

However, the Dispatch reported that Wild Coast Guards secretary Lou-Ann King said their lifeguards, who are contracted to guard the Second Beach among others at the Wild Coast, did all that was humanly possible to save both victims.

Locals say the real issue is alleged unhappiness among lifeguards over mismanagement by the Port St Johns municipilaty that has resulted in an erratic cash flow to Wild Coast Guards. 

The Eastern Cape resort has had a nightmare two years, which has seen 14 people drowned, mostly at Second Beach. "People, many of whom are kids, are bussed from inland towns and cities like Mthatha. They go into the ocean with no experience, and accidents have happened, sometimes with an entire group drowning," said a concerned resident. "The lifeguards are often not paid, and are often not on duty, which is not ideal when you have inexperienced holidaymakers going into the water."

It has also been claimed that because lifeguards are not always able to perform their duties, some of the bodies of drowning victims are not recovered, which "might attract sharks". However, the last fatal shark attack occurred in January 2007, and before that, it has been 17 years since the last fatality.

Manager and coach of Iliza Surfing Academy Michael Gatcke told Wavescape that the attack occurred almost to the day two years after another lifeguard, Sibulele Masiza, lost his life to a shark at the popular swimming beach. Masiza's body was not recovered after the attack, believed that time to be a tiger. His flippers, one torn, were the only items recovered.

Gatcke's academy, which has seen three development surfers compete for Border in the SA Champs, had been running a clinic with about 48 youngsters in the water at Second Beach under two hours before the attack. "We were running a swimming lesson to get the guys used to the water, and to prepare them for their first surfing lesson," a relieved Gatcke said.

The Cape Times, reporting on the weekend's attack, said that Tshintshekile Nduve, a fellow lifeguard, had been swimming with Bangilizwe at 13h30 when he heard cries.

"I saw he was in trouble and the shark on him, I saw blood and I went out of the water to get help," he was quoted as saying.

Port St Johns residents, lifeguards and friends of Wavescape say that Bangilizwe was the sole breadwinner for his family, who are now without a source of income.

Wavescape has set up a fund for the Bangilizwe family through our friends Givengain.com and the Amapondo Children's fund (NPO in Port St Johns).
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