Devastated families visit site of wreck
Plea for answers about cause of chokka boat tragedy, as body of second fisherman is found
THE beach at Sunset Rock was lined with emotional family members yesterday as they visited the wreck of the Maredon, the chokka boat that capsized and ran aground near Cape St Francis on Sunday.
Shortly before the group of family members arrived at the beach, the body of one of the eight missing fishermen, Mbongeni Gift Zulu, 43, from Jeffreys Bay, was found near Blue Horizon Bay.
This brings the confirmed death toll to two.
Seven of the boat’s crew members survived the horrific incident, while seven others are still unaccounted for.
But family members at the wreck site were sad, angry and confused, saying more should be done to look for the fishermen, whether they were dead or alive.
“Why are there not more divers out in the water?” Wellington Dlamini, from Jeffreys Bay, asked.
“Where are the search teams that are supposed to patrol along the rocks? Why does it feel like no one cares about finding our brothers?”
Dlamini, 55, had two brothers working on the Maredon, part of the Balobi fishing company’s fleet, when it capsized.
Scelo Dlamini, 30, was among the fishermen rescued from the beach, while his brother, Sihle, 37, is one of the missing. “Why have they not taken that whole boat apart?” Wellington Dlamini said.
“We only see one hole cut in the hull, but what if there are bodies caught somewhere else in the boat?
“I want to be sure they have done everything possible to find my brother.
“We have so many questions and no one to give us answers.
“Not the police, the search teams or Balobi have been able to give us any clarity on what happened.”
Dlamini said his surviving brother was still extremely traumatised and began crying whenever they asked him about what had happened aboard the vessel.
“Our family is still struggling with the news that one of my brothers is missing – and everyone is very worried about the one that survived.
“We are not sure if he will ever recover.”
Feziwe Sinekelo, 34, had trouble containing her emotions when asked about her younger brother, Zamikhaya, 32. He is also still unaccounted for. “Our parents aren’t alive anymore. We have two younger brothers – and Zamikhaya was our breadwinner.
“I have no idea what we are going to do without him,” she said, covering her face with her hands and trying to stifle the sobs.
“We don’t expect to find him alive anymore. It’s been too long now.
“But we need to find his body. Our family needs closure.”
Sinekelo, also from Jeffreys Bay, said too little information had been communicated to the families.
“It’s not like I can phone my brother and ask him where he is or
Not the police, the search teams or Balobi have been able to give us any clarity on what happened
what happened,” she said.
“We are dependent on the authorities to give us that information, but we are not getting any feedback from them.”
Also still missing are Mvelisi Elliot Ncanywa and Paseka Piki, from Humansdorp, as well as three other men who have not yet been identified but are believed to be from Port Elizabeth.
Balobi managing director Mark Rowe said all the missing fishermen’s families had been notified of their disappearance, but he did not want to give their names.
He said the company had helped transport the families to the site of the wreck in an effort to help them gain closure.
“We are deeply saddened by the incident and our hearts go out to the families that have lost loved ones,” he said.
“We are working as speedily as possible to investigate and get to the bottom of what happened so that we can communicate the details to everyone involved.”
He met officials from the South African Maritime Safety Authority, as well as insurers, as part of the ongoing investigation and salvage operations.
“The boat owners and hull insurers are sending surveyors to the wreck,” Rowe said.
“We are also in negotiations with the owners of the Rocky Coast farm, which [we understand] is a protected area, to iron out details about the salvage operation.”