Cape Town - In the aftermath of the man who drowned while assisting a stuck motorist, his family said he would never disregard someone in need of assistance.
Good Samaritan Jannie Mars, 52, died on Thursday morning when he tried to cross a flooded road.
The Wesbank father parked his car at a petrol station and walked to work. However, during his journey, he saw a woman driver whose car was stuck in water on Range Road, Blackheath.
Witness Denishia Ruiters explained the man stopped to push the car out of the flood water.
“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.
A video of the accident was circulated on Facebook.
Mars’ nephew, Rezak Mohammed said: “We found out about the incident on Facebook. 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.”
WATCH | In a tragic turn of events, a Good Samaritan who assisted a motorist in a flooded street, died after being swept away in a current while crossing the road.
READ MORE: https://t.co/ZuW29yCPOr
Video: supplied pic.twitter.com/bMT9AjToOq
In an interview with the Weekend Argus, Mohammed said his uncle had been an invaluable source of support.
“He was a mechanic. He would fix our cars, and he would do that for free. We never had to go to the garage to fix our cars. 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. He would never run away from helping someone.
“We are devastated by what happened and his wife is distraught.”