DURBAN - KwaZulu-Natal police have maintained that the driver of a Range Rover that was seen drifting along a Richards Bay beach has not been arrested yet.
A news report published on Monday evening indicated that the driver had been arrested.
Providing the same response as on Monday, police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said Richards Bay police were aware of the incident, but confirmed that no one had been arrested. The suspect was still being sought by the police, he said.
uMhlathuze Municipality spokesperson Mdu Ncalane said he heard that the driver had been arrested, but he had no updated information, and said only the South African Police Service could help.
Following both responses, the Daily News spoke to police officers from police stations within the uMhlathuze Municipality.
An officer from Empangeni SAPS did not respond to the arrest, but said there was no beach in Empangeni.
However, an officer from Richards Bay SAPS confirmed that a case had been opened, but there had not been an arrest at the police station as yet.
On Monday, the Daily News reported that the police were looking for the driver who had drifted a vehicle along the shoreline of a Richards Bay beach over New Year’s weekend.
Only the top half of a Rover could be seen sticking out of the water off a Richards Bay beach after the driver showboated in front of beachgoers.
Two videos of the incident, which apparently took place on New Year’s Day, have gone viral on social media -- one of the driver showboating and the other of the semi-submerged vehicle.
There are also other videos and images of the semi-submerged vehicle and recovery by tow trucks.
Daily News