- Municipal officials, along with a group of NMB journalists who were covering an oversight visit at the Impofu Dam outside Humansdorp, ended up stuck in the mud.
- Persistent rain in the area caused the group to get stuck on a gravel road.
- A neighbouring farmer had to be called in to tow the vehicles with a tractor.
An oversight visit to the Impofu Dam outside Humansdorp turned into a rescue mission when Nelson Mandela Bay municipal officials along with a group of journalists ended up getting stuck in the mud on a gravel road on the way to the dam.
The group was set to follow newly elected, Nelson Mandela Bay Mayor, Gary van Niekerk, on an oversight visit to the dam, which was decommissioned last year due to severely low levels of water.
But they did not bank on getting stuck on an uphill slope a few kilometres away from the dam on the outskirts of the Sarah Baartman District.
The Hyundai H1 transporting the SABC journalists, ended up in a ditch while trying to conquer the hill.
Journalists in other vehicles also fell into trouble as they tried to go uphill.
The journalists were not able to drive up this muddy slope.
The Hyundai H1 transporting SABC News journalists had to be towed out of the mud with a tractor.
Photos: Candice Bezuidenhout
While others stopped to help, there was no cellphone reception to call for help.
A neighbouring farmer was called in to assist with his tractor, to tow the vehicles from the mud.
The mayor and other municipal officials were already at the dam when the incident occurred but when they headed back after more than an hour, the municipal minibus could not make its way down the slippery slope and also had to be towed by the tractor.
The mayor, however, managed to escape the drama as his Audi SUV had no problem navigating the slippery road.
The oversight visit was postponed due to the inclement weather.
“I am so glad that everyone is safe because things could have been so much worse but luckily no one got hurt,” municipal spokesperson, Mamela Ndamase said.