Daily Sun (August 15 2013) - GOGO Tryphina Zitha didn't hesitate when a wooden pont capsized on the Nkomazi River. She dived in and saved six people, including her daughter and grandson, who were struggling in the deadly croc-filled river.
BUT THE ONE SHE COULDN'T SAVE WAS HER OWN GRANDDAUGHTER, SIPHOSETHU!
The eight-year-old was lost in the swirling waters. So although gogo Tryphina (62) is the toast of Phiva Village, near Malelane in Mpumalanga, she is beside herself with grief.
"It took me a while to realise that while I was busy saving other people, Siphosethu was crying out and dying," sobbed the sad gogo. "I swam back in the river, all the way to the bottom, hoping to touch warm human flesh in the dark.
"I could not find her. I saved everyone else but not my own flesh and blood." The flat-bottomed wooden pont - a boat which is pulled by ropes from one river bank to the other - had 13 people on board when the rope broke and it capsized early on Monday morning.
Tryphina had just said goodbye to her daughter Sphiwe (34) who was taking her children Orlando Jun (2) and Siphosethu to their father, Orlando Matlombe, in Komatipoort. The pont is the quickest way to get to the town.