Crocodile attack survivor says she’d rather stay thirsty than face the Okavango river again

“Whenever someone touches me, I get a fright, thinking it’s the crocodile attacking me.”

These are the words of Mbuyo Kathumbi (36) after a trip to fetch water from the Okavango River made her yet another victim of a crocodile attack, leaving her with permanent physical and emotional scars.

She says she would now rather stay thirsty than set foot in the river again.

Kathumbi, a resident of Popa village in the Mukwe constituency of the Kavango East region, was brutally attacked by a crocodile on 3 April while fetching water for her household. For her and other residents, the trip to the river is a daily one due to a lack of water points in the area.

The Namibian finds Kathumbi sitting under a mango tree on a cloudy Thursday morning, trying to balance one of her five children on her lap despite several visible injuries.

She tells The Namibian she is alive because a friend she was with was brave enough to fight the crocodile off.

“The crocodile bit into my left leg, and in the process of my friend pulling it off me, it bit off some meat. Then it came for my right leg, but fortunately its grip was not so strong, and my friend pulled me away.

“If it weren’t for her, I would be dead. That crocodile was very strong and aggressive,” she says.

Kathumbi says the attack has left her disabled. She cannot move around freely like she used to, sit for long, cook, or clean the house.

“I’m even unable to bath by myself at times, and my children or my elderly mother must help me. I used to get piece jobs to feed my five children, but now I can’t even do that.

“We do not have a toilet, so I have to ask my neighbours with toilets to use their toilet. Because of my injuries I cannot bend down low,” she says.

Kathumbi says she has missed four follow-up visits to the doctor since being discharged from Andara Hospital, as she cannot afford to travel all the way there.

‘CONSTANT PAIN’

“I live in constant pain because I cannot afford to go to the clinic to get painkillers or change my wound dressing due to transport challenges. Even the painkillers they are giving me at the clinic are not helping me anymore.

“I’m starting to feel numb from my hip downwards in the injured leg. However, I’m unable to get to the doctor to see what’s wrong,” she says.

Kathumbi says she has applied for compensation from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, but is still waiting for a response – six months after the attack.

“Hopefully, if I get that money, I will be able to go to the hospital to see the doctor, because my legs are getting weaker by the day,” she says.

As a survivor she says she would not advise anyone to go to the river to fetch water.

“I do not wish what happened to me on anyone. I still have nightmares, and whenever someone touches me, I get a fright, thinking it’s the crocodile attacking me. Even if you don’t have water, don’t go there.”

‘COMPENSATION APPROVED’

The environment ministry’s officer in charge of the Bwabwata West National Park, Elias Eino, says the ministry is aware of Kathumbi’s attack and her compensation was approved.

“Everything was approved, and it’s just a matter of time before she’ll be compensated,” he says.

Eino has also confirmed the attacks of Likando Kambango (9 months), Justine Dishaka (9), and an unknown elderly man at Kamutjonga village between September and November.

He says the ministry has put down a crocodile and has retrieved clothing items, several bones, and teeth from it.

“We’ve sent everything we’ve found for DNA testing. We suspect the two children were attacked by the same crocodile we put down, but to be sure, we need to wait for the results,” he says.

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