The City of Johannesburg Emergency Services Management (EMS) Aquatic Unit recovered three bodies in the afternoon of 31 December following a drowning incident at Snake Park, in Soweto.
The three drowned during a baptism service in a stream near the Mayibuye Bridge on Saturday, Eyewitness News reported citing EMS.
This is the second baptism service that has cost churchgoers their lives in December 2022.
Local people believe the three men were drowned by a water dragon (inkanyamba).
According to an eyewitness who spoke to Eyewitness News, the men were sangoma initiates who had come to the stream to cleanse themselves. Watch the video below for more:
The witness added that the deceased men came on a bad day and inkanyamba was angry and drowned all of them.
The stream is said to be a pilgrimage for people who want prayers.