On Saturday, 33 church members attended a baptismal ceremony at the Jukskei river near Bramley and they were hit with a tragedy. Two of the churchgoers drowned and 15 were swept away by flash floods. The Pastor's disappearance is making it difficult for the emergency services to progress as they are not certain of the number of people to look for. The pastor's cooperation is needed as some alerted families have not come forward to identify the bodies of the deceased. Johannesburg Emergency Services (EMS) is also calling on families who have missing loved ones to come forward. 

THE FLOODS

So far, 14 bodies have been recovered and the search continues. The team was disrupted by heavy rains on Tuesday and couldn't continue with their search. EMS spokesman Robert Mulaudzi says,' If there is anyone maybe who lost family in that group of congregants, we're asking that person to please contact us so that we can be able to facilitate knowing exactly the details of that family member so that as and when we're conducting the search, we know exactly how many people are still missing at this state.'

Mulaudziadds that he wasn't sure whether the pastor will be charged with criminal charges, however, his ducking and diving are not working in his favour. "Maybe the message to our residents out there is to be cautious as and when they conduct this kind of rituals to make sure they exercise caution, they do it in a safe place, and ensure that the safety measures are considered so that we can be able to prevent incidents like these,' Mulaudzi adds.

WHAT OTHER PASTORS SAY

Mntimande Ngwenya, who is a pastor and sangoma says Pastors are always warned not to take people to the river after it has rained. He added that some practices like baptism don't even need the river because it's doable in a swimming pool. "The water currency is strong and we never know how deep it is. That's why it's better to stay away. Look now so many lives have been lost because of this. The pastor could have taken a bucket and baptised the congregants from the riverbank instead of forcing them to put them inside.' He goes on to say, "Manysangomas and Pastors don't even know how to swim yet they take people to the river. Anything can happen. The water is very sensitive and although the incidents don't happen often, it's always good to at least know how to swim so you can save a life."