Staff Reporter
A QwaQwa police officer who bravely rescued a suicidal old woman from drowning in a flooded river and survived a potential snake attack has been showered with praises and given R5 000 cash as a token of appreciation by the provincial police management.
What started as a normal work day for Constable Moleko Mabe from Phuthaditjhaba Police Station on Monday suddenly became dramatic when he and his colleague, Warrant Officer Mandla Mothap, heard on the police two-way radio that an elderly woman had been seen in a nearby flooded river by community members.
The pair immediately drove to Kgoptjane River which is situated behind Phuthaditjhaba Police Station to try and rescue the woman.
Upon their arrival at the river, they found a crowd of people helplessly watching Emma Tlaleng Mahloko, 67, struggling and screaming for help.
“I heard the granny screaming in the bushy area already in the river asking for help,” said Mabe who is attached to the visible policing unit.
“I couldn’t even see her, but used my amateur swimming skills and made my way through the thorny branches and into the muddy river,” he said.
Mabe eventually saw the old woman holding onto a tree branch and dived into the flooded river and waded against the strong water current until he reached her.
But a bemused Mahloko, who is from Mangaung Village in Phuthaditjhaba, could not understand his logic as he did not have a rope to help her reach the river bank.
“I asked her to take a grip of my belt as I started swimming with her towards the bank of the river. I spent almost five minutes in the river struggling to reach the bank,” Mabe explained.
And as they made their way to safety through the tall grass, Mabe said they came across a snake but simply continued and avoided danger.
Mahloko told the police officer that she wanted to commit suicide because she could not cope with her debts.
She was then taken to the police station where she was reunited with her family.
Free State Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Baile Motswenyane said on Thursday she was touched by Mabe’s bravery and decided that he deserved to be acknowledged beyond the police’s rewarding programmes.
“Most of the time we get reports about how bad our members are. To hear something like this just made me very emotional, because I know this constable is not a swimmer nor trained to rescue people,” said Motswenyane.
She said there are formal channels to reward members for good service, but she and other managers put together money from their own pockets to give to Mabe as a token of appreciation.
“This is not much, but this is how touched we were with your extraordinary effort to save the life of this old lady. May other members follow your lead,” she said as she handed him an envelope with R5 000 cash.
An emotional Mabe said he did not think twice about rescuing the old woman because that’s what he signed up for when he joined the police.
“I only thought of saving the life of this granny and did not expect anything in return,” he said.
