DIVERS rewarded for their bravery and sterling rescue work.
The divers were part of the rescue team that retrieved the white VW Polo driven by the missing police officers, Constable Cebekhulu Linda (24), Constable Keamogetswe Buys (30) and Constable Boipelo Senoge (20).
The constables went missing on 23 April and their bodies, as well as the car were retrieved in the Hennops River in Centurion, Tshwane.
The six divers were given meritorious awards on Sunday, 4 May during Tshwane Emergency Services' International Firefighters Day commemoration parade in Kolonnade Retail Park in Tshwane.
Company commander Paul Cullumbine, who is a rescue diver and swift water technician, said: "When we started, the water level was quite high. There was debri on the low-lying river. We were looking for something suspected to be an object in the river. We found out that the car wasn't there and we split into groups."
He said others from their group found the suspected police car. "We searched from Tuesday, 29 April until Thursday, 1 May. We found the car almost 90 metres from the N1 bridge. It was still under water," he said.
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Cullumbine said the water flow changed how they usually work and that they didn't have control of it.
"We had to focus on the job at hand. When it comes to fear, you have a mental block. Working in water, one has to be careful and focused.
"The search was tough, the weather conditions were changing and the water level was changing and we had to adapt to the situation at all times," he said.
Another diver, Xolani Nkosi, also a swift water technician, said: "It's quite hectic as we are dealing with natural things. Water is something you cannot anticipate. You prepare yourself mentally and physically, topped with the strength to do the job."
Nkosi said focus is important as well as being a team player with other partners such as the SAPS.
"We go through training to rescue victims. It's part of my life and nature. If someone says thank you for what you have done, it's called achievement because it gives you courage to do more."
