Durban — Two heroes that are gone but never forgotten, SAPS Sergeant Busisiwe Mjwara, 42, and K9 Lea, have been remembered a year after the April floods when they died while trying to locate missing flood victims.
Mjwara and Lea died on a Sunday morning.
Mjwara was conducting a search in the Msunduzi River for three victims who had drowned earlier when she got into difficulty and drowned. She was airlifted to a nearby hospital but was sadly declared dead on arrival.
According to reports, Lea was attempting to assist Sergeant Mjwara when she also experienced difficulties and drowned.
On Monday, Lee Bryant of Durban Metro Police Search and Rescue said: “One year today we lost two members of our family Busi Mjwara (Sgt) and K9 Lea. We miss you both, you are gone but not forgotten, watch over us. #fallenheroes #aprilfloods2022 #officersdown #inthineofduty you paid the ultimate price for Search and Rescue and your country.”
Renegades Search and Rescue shared a tribute to K9 Lea.
Following their deaths, emergency services paid tribute to Mjwara and Lea.
Tam Olckers made a sketch paying tribute to the duo. The sketch moved people who came across it.
Captioning her work, Olckers said: “EDIT: I believe the K-9 officer belonged to a different handler and not Busi. My tribute to the rescue officer and her K9 companion who died yesterday while helping out with the devastating floods in KwaZulu-Natal....”
In August last year, during Women’s Month, the SAPS celebrated its women in blue with a posthumous recognition of the life of the late Mjwara.
Mjwara, one of four policewomen divers who were deployed to assist in saving and recovering missing people, was attached to the Pietermaritzburg Search and Rescue unit.
Mjwara was part of more than 120 rescuers made up of police divers, K9 members, SAPS air wing personnel and fire department teams that had been deployed to form part of Operation ISSA to respond to the floods in the Greater eThekwini area in April 2022.
She was born and bred in a small village called Caluza in Pietermaritzburg and joined the SAPS in 2008 and had 14 years of service.
Mjwara began serving at the Hilton and Mooi River Police Station Community Safety Centre and in 2014 joined the 10111 Call Centre as a call operator. She later joined the Flying Squad and Police Diving Unit.
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Daily News