Poachers who helped save the lives of tourists say they are the unsung heroes of the Hout Bay boat disaster.
|||Cape Town - Poachers who helped save the lives of tourists say they are the unsung heroes of last Saturday’s Hout Bay boat disaster.
But these self-confessed criminals claim they have not received any recognition or thanks for coming to the rescue of the 37 people they found floating near a capsized boat.
Skipper Alphonso Wichman, 39, and his crew of divers and deckhands were one of the first vessels that assisted the victims of The Miroshga as they clung to whatever they could find to stay afloat.
“We went down to the harbour at about 2pm to start work,” Alphonso told the Daily Voice.
“The wind was strong and there was very high swells but we were used to this weather. We went out and had just passed Hangberg and we were about 100 metres past Seal Island when we saw a life raft.”
He says they looked around and sprang into action helping the people out of the water when they saw the capsized boat.
“Half the people weren’t wearing life jackets and we knew we had to save them,” said Alphonso.
“There were children in the water and we didn’t want to see any of them die or get hurt.”
John Knowles says he was one of the first people who jumped overboard to help the victims of ill-fated Miroshga.
“The water was cold and rough. We are used to that type of water but the tourists aren’t,” he said. “They were panicked and scared.”
John says he went back and forth pulling people from the water and handing them over to his colleagues on the boat.
“All I thought was, what if it was me, I would want somebody to help me,” said John.
Alphonso said he had used his 5.5m rubber duck to transport people from the shallow water to the rescue boats.
“My divers would swim to them, bring them to the boat and we would pull them on board and out of the ocean,” he said.
Kyle Cairns, 25, helped transport people from the sea to the waiting vessel.
“They were so desperate to get out of the water that they clung to us and tried to climb on top of us,” said Kyle.
“At one point I thought I was going to drown the way they pulled me down.”
Reemo Raatz, 25, one of the people on board Alphonso’s boat, says the people they saved were clearly relieved to get out of the water.
“They were in shock, as we pulled them out of the water they just laid there and they cried,” he said.
“We pulled all the people out of the water but we couldn’t save the three ladies that was trapped in the boat because we didn’t have the right equipment.
“Then when the rescue boats arrived and we told them that there was still three people trapped in the hull of the boat, they just dismissed us and told us to leave.”
Alphonso told the Daily Voice that officials at the harbour had dismissed their contribution to the rescue of the tourists.
“But if it wasn’t for us then more people probably would’ve died,” said Lincoln Theunissen.
“And then we read and heard that the NSRI were the ones who saved those people’s lives when it was really us.”
Spokesperson for Alan Winde, MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Phumzile van Damme said that a collective thank you had been extended to the Hout Bay community for their help on Saturday.
“The entire community was thanked for their contribution and all their help,” said van Damme.
Daily Voice