The Good Samaritan who drowned after helping a stuck motorist in Blackheath has been identified as Jannie Mars.
The 52-year-old father of two passed away on Thursday morning when he tried to cross a flooded road, but was swept away by the raging floodwater.
Speaking to the Daily Voice on Friday, his family said Jannie, who worked as a mechanic, would never pass by someone in need of assistance.
The Wesbank father had parked his car at a petrol station and walked to work.
On the way, he noticed a woman driver whose car was stuck in water on Range Road, Blackheath.
Witness Denishia Ruiters says Jannie stopped to push the car out of the floodwater.
Denishia explains: “It was around 6am when he helped take the car out of the water and he waited with the woman for two hours before the tow truck arrived.
“At 8.10am, he took his lunch bag and started walking and I told him the traffic cop said no one was allowed to walk across the road and that if we did, it was at our own risk because they didn’t know how deep the water was.
“I told him to call his bosses and explain the situation, but he said he was leaving.
“When I saw him walk to the canal, I shouted that he was going to step into the water, and that is when he took his final step.”
The Fire and Rescue services arrived at the scene 20 minutes after he had drowned. The father-of-two’s body was retrieved after 1pm.
Jannie’s nephew, Rezak Mohammed, says they found out about the incident on Facebook. He says: “We saw the CCTV footage of someone falling into a drain, but we didn’t recognise him.
“At night around 6pm, my aunt became worried when he didn’t come home. We went to his workplace and it was closed already.
“And then we went to the police station and the police officers asked for his description and that is how we found out that it was him on the video.”
Rezak says his uncle was a good man who will be sorely missed.
He shares: “He was a mechanic. He would fix our cars, and he would do that for free. He would always laugh and make jokes when he fixed our cars.
“He was a converted man and I know that he helped that lady, because that is who he was.
“If he saw anyone stuck on the side of the road he would stop and ask them if they needed help. He was a lovely person.
“We are devastated by what happened and his wife is distraught.”