Rescuers fear croc may have taken student
December 17 2009 at 02:54PM



By Noelene Barbeau

No one knows what has become of 21-year-old Cape Town student Duncan MacWilliam who went missing from the remote Mapelane campsite just south of St Lucia.

Friends last saw him at 5am on Sunday when he told them he was going to cross the Mfolozi River to St Lucia Village to buy a football.

The swamp area between the two spots is rated as the most dangerous in the park, full of crocodiles and hippos.


It is only 2.4km as the crow flies, but would take about two hours to drive to the village.

He has not been seen since, and no one knows for sure whether he did in fact cross the crocodile infested river, or was washed into the sea. The area is renowned among anglers for its big sharks.

The Umfolozi police are investigating a missing person's report and the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) has spent the past few days conducting land, sea and air searches together with officials of Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife. To no avail.

Ezemvelo spokesman Jeff Gaisford said MacWilliam, son of Cape Town advocate Russell MacWilliam, was staying at the campsite with friends. Gaisford said they were alerted about MacWilliam's disappearance on Monday morning.

"We don't know whether he went into the river or if he got lost. No one saw him get into the river. That is the problem. All we have is a missing person. We are talking about a very big and wild area and the weather has been really bad. Parties of field rangers have been patrolling the beaches," he said.

NSRI spokesman, Craig Lambinon, agreed that no one knew where MacWilliam crossed the river or if he did cross it.

"The Umfolozi police alerted us on Monday morning. Our search went on until Tuesday evening and covered all possibilities - sea and river searches, search among the swamps and search of the general area which revealed no signs of the young man," he said.

Lambinon said they had been working closely with the family who came up from Cape Town on Tuesday.

This particular area is known for its number of crocodiles. Gaisford said there were many signs up, saying not to swim and to beware of crocodiles.

"It's one of the most dangerous places in the park, and if he swam near the mouth he could have been washed out to sea," Lambinon said.

Two crocodile attacks were reported within days of each other in 2000 in the St Lucia estuary. Both victims were trying to cross the river.

According to KwaZulu-Natal crocodile expert, Mark Robertson, 95 percent of all crocodile attacks occurred between November and April when heavy rains made rivers dirty and the water warmer. It was also the breeding season for the reptiles.

The Daily News attempted to visit the Mapelane campsite on Wednesday.

It is a two-hour drive from Durban to Kwambonani, just past Empangeni, and a treacherous hour's drive on tar and gravel road to the Mapelane Nature Reserve.

However, access to the vast campsite area was easier with a bakkie or 4x4 vehicle.

MacWilliam's cousin, Kevin Flanagan, who spoke on behalf of the family, had been with MacWilliam's parents since Tuesday and returned to Cape Town on Wednesday night. He said they thought MacWilliam was swept out to sea by the current and were now searching for a body.

MacWilliam's mother was too distraught to speak to the media. The parents were in St Lucia on Wednesday and are believed to be staying in Durban.

Gaisford said they would continue their search.


This article was originally published on page 3 of Daily News on December 17, 2009

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