Bodies of drowned students recovered

PAIR DISAPPEARED AFTER ENTERING THE WATER WITH TWO FEMALE FRIENDS

THE BODIES of the two students who were swept out to sea at Strand Beach have been recovered.

The students were part of a church group who went on an outing to the beach. The two male students, aged 19 and 20, one from the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and the other from Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), disappeared after they entered the water with two female friends. The students were members of the Students’ Christian Organisation (SCO), Western Cape branch.

An extensive search operation by the police’s dive unit assisted by Cape Town Fire and Rescue unit members was conducted along Strand, Macassar and Monwabisi beaches.

The body of 19-year-old Aluwani Hadzhi, a second-year law student, was found by a group of fisherman at Macassar Beach about 20/30km from where he was swimming.

Yesterday, the body of 20-year-old Mulweni Nevhutalo, a first-year mechanical engineering student from CPUT, was washed up at Macassar Beach about 10.40am.

“We are deeply saddened as UWC by this tragic loss,” UWC deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Pamela Dube said.

CPUT spokesperson Lauren Kansley said university management was supporting Nevhutalo’s parents during this difficult time.

Police spokesperson FC van Wyk said an inquest into the drownings was registered for investigation.