A mother’s courage

The wounds on her hands are still fresh – victorious reminder of the battle she fought and won to save her child from a reptile.
“I would rather it took me than my child.”

Pauline Kawina (28) from Divava village in the Mukwe constituency in the Kavango East region says she would die for her son, Mukuve Thighayo (4).

The young mother last week fought desperately to pull Mukuve from the jaws of a crocodile at the village.
Kawina is nine months pregnant.

She spoke to The Namibian yesterday while at Andara Catholic Hospital where Mukuve is recovering from the vicious attack.

Kawina, who hails from Shanyatji village, said she went to visit her in-laws at Divava when the attack happened.

She said she accompanied her husband’s elder sister to the Okavango River where she went to wash blankets.

She said she took her son and his two cousins along.
While her sister-in-law was doing her laundry, Mukuve and his cousins were swimming close by.

She said she saw something moving in the water, which initially appeared to be a rock.

Kawina quickly realised it was not.

“I saw a crocodile from a distance. Suddenly, I saw my son being snatched by the reptile. That is when I ran and jumped into the water with his aunt and we held the boy by his armpits. We struggled together to get the boy from its mouth,” she said.

Kawina said while they were struggling to rescue Mukuve, they were moving deeper into the water.

She and her sister-in-law then managed to remove her son from the crocodile’s mouth, she said.

“I felt like my son was gone, but I told myself that it should rather take me. I have to save my son. I couldn’t let him be taken while I was around,” she said.

Kawina said they were then rushed to Andara Catholic Hospital.

The crocodile bit Mukuve’s stomach, buttocks and inner thighs.

Kavango East acting regional commander deputy commissioner Eino Nambahu confirmed the incident on Friday.

A nurse at the hospital, Sandra Tjakova, says Mukuve’s wounds were serious when he was admitted, but are healing.

She says his buttock wounds are very deep and the boy is in pain.
People living along the Okavango River have been losing their lives due to crocodile and hippo attacks.

The river is their only source of water, they say, and provides them with their livelihoods.

Most catch fish from the river as a source of income.

Crocodile attacks along the Okavango River have been rampant in recent years.

On 1 April, Mathilde Muhuli (11) was killed by a crocodile at Shikoro village in the Ndiyona constituency.

“The issue of crocodile attacks in the constituency is still a problem. Our intervention is to engage the ministry of environment so that together we can provide water infrastructure, specifically boreholes,” says Damian Maghambayi, Mukwe constituency councillor.

He says the constituency has managed to obtain three boreholes from the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism at some of the areas prone to crocodile attacks.

Regarding the Divava incident, the councillor says a water pipe runs from Divava to Bagani, but requires the payment of a monthly fee to NamWater.

In 2021, ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda said at least eight people were killed by crocodiles between 2019 and that year.

He recently said these incidents are unfortunate and concerning.
“We want to caution communities living along the rivers in the north and north-eastern regions, and the general public, not to risk their lives,” he said.

Muyunda urged parents and community leaders living along the rivers in the north-eastern regions to keep children from swimming or bathing in the rivers.

“We cannot afford to lose more people to these dangerous predators. We understand that communities draw resources from rivers for their livelihoods. However, we encourage people to do so safely by taking necessary precautions at all times,” he said.

He said children should not be allowed to collect water by themselves.