By Jonk wa Mashamba
news@alexreporter.co.za
The EMS Search and Rescue team has responded to a drowning incident in Bramley, Johannesburg this morning.
The incident was reported at 11:40 to the unit. It is alleged that a group of congregants were performing a cleansing ritual when four women were swept away by a flash flood.
Two women were rescued and two drowned. One body was recovered in Morningside and the other in Witkopen along Juskei river.
The EMS has emphasized the dangers of conducting rituals and ceremonies at or in the river during the rainy season .
“We plead with all religious groups to refrain from such practices until the weather clears,” said EMS.
In December 2022, at least 15 worshipers drowned when they were swept away in the same river during a baptism ritual.
About 33 people were conducting the ritual when a storm hit, causing a flash flood. The pastor of the bogus church has since ran away.
A woman from Alex survived the floods but sadly lost her mother and two children. One of her kids, a three months-old, hasn’t been found until today.
On December 31st, last year, our Managing Editor (Jok wa Mashamba) spoke to the mother who said she missed her kids and her mother, all of whom perished in the river.