Police put snake catcher’s ‘life at risk’
Shona Aylward
Intrepid KwaZulu-Natal snake catcher Sarel van der Merwe was recently put in a spot of bother when he was called out to attend to a green mamba sighted in Bhoboyi.
He received the call from the SA Police Service (Saps) control room in Port Shepstone last Saturday, reports South Coast Herald.
Two constables escorted him to the area where the green mamba had been spotted.
When they got there, the constables didn’t get out of the vehicle, leaving Van der Merwe to walk about 10 minutes to the where the snake was in a tree.
Once in the tree, Van der Merwe quickly grabbed the snake, at which time the community began to stone the snake and him.
The snake dropped and a crowd of 100 people armed with pangas and knobkerries killed it.
“It was a tense situation and I am disappointed by the no help attitude from the police,” he said.
Van der Merwe said even when he was following the police to the scene, the two constables drove slowly. The officers must have heard the crowd shouting, yet made no move to assist.
The police called him to catch the snake, yet they ended up putting his life in danger, he said.
No response was received from the police. – Caxton News Service