Two heroic farm labourers came to the rescue of a pregnant Zimbabwean woman on Saturday, February 11, after she ran into trouble while trying to cross the crocodile-infested Limpopo River illegally into South Africa.

The woman, said to be in her thirties and about seven months pregnant, tried to cross the flooded river on Friday, but ran into trouble and got stuck on a tree stump. It was only on Saturday afternoon at about 16:00 that she was spotted by two farm labourers from a farm in the Weipe area.

The police were alerted, but in the meantime the two farm labourers swam in and rescued the woman, taking her back to the Zimbabwean side as it was the closest dry land at that stage. The woman said nothing, as she was in shock.

By the time the police arrived at the scene, the woman was gone. Fearing the worst, the police even brought along a police diver. It is speculated that the pregnant woman tried to cross over into South Africa to give birth to her baby, allowing her to qualify for the South African government’s child grant. The Musina police said that no case had been opened, as the woman had returned to Zimbabwe.