LOOK: Black mamba removed from Eskom switch room on the KZN south coast

KZN south coast snake catcher Sarel van der Merwe said when Eskom staff saw a black mamba in the switch room in Kingsdale, Ifafa, they ran out of the room.

Black mamba removed from an Eskom switch room in Kingsdale, Ifafa on the KZN south coast. Snake catcher Sarel van der Merwe is seen with Veterinary Science Student Kayla Lotter. Picture: Supplied by Sarel van der Merwe.

Published Jul 6, 2022

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Durban - KwaZulu-Natal south coast snake catcher Sarel van der Merwe was called out to Kingsdale, Ifafa located within the Ugu District Municipality to remove a black mamba from an Eskom switch room on Tuesday.

Van der Merwe posted pictures of the rescue on his Facebook page.

He thanked the Eskom staff for assisting with the rescue and for taking the pictures.

“When the technical staff spotted the black mamba they flew out like rockets and called me,” he said.

Van der Merwe was also assisted by Kayla Lotter, who is a visiting veterinary science student from the University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort campus.

Van der Merwe and Lotter were out camping in Gamalakhe in search for an evasive black mamba which was hiding after residents set the area, where the female snake was living, on fire.

Black mamba removed from an Eskom switch room in Kingsdale, Ifafa on the KZN south coast. Picture: Supplied by Sarel van der Merwe.

Black mamba removed from an Eskom switch room in Kingsdale, Ifafa on the KZN south coast. Picture: Supplied by Sarel van der Merwe.

Black mamba removed from an Eskom switch room in Kingsdale, Ifafa on the KZN south coast. Picture: Supplied by Sarel van der Merwe.

Meanwhile, in a statement last week, Ugu District Municipality announced that Eskom would be implementing stage 6 load shedding which would continue to cripple an already fragile water regime of the major water works stations in the district.

The municipality said the district’s water systems are highly reliant on Eskom power supply to function effectively.

It said the recent blackouts have increased a risk of constant water disruptions of water in most areas across the district.

“These power blackouts bring with it the risk associated with obstruction of our water pumping regime to provide pressure to higher-lying areas which also has an impact on filling reservoirs adequately resulting in restricted supply of water,” said the municipality.

Black mamba removed from an Eskom switch room in Kingsdale, Ifafa on the KZN south coast. Picture: Supplied by Sarel van der Merwe.

Black mamba removed from an Eskom switch room in Kingsdale, Ifafa on the KZN south coast. Picture: Supplied by Sarel van der Merwe.

Black mamba removed from an Eskom switch room in Kingsdale, Ifafa on the KZN south coast. Picture: Supplied by Sarel van der Merwe.

THE MERCURY