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This recent article is an example of the belief in 'mermaids' by some of the indigenous people in southern Africa. These aquatic beings are said to inhabit fresh and brackish river waters:
Hazyview, South Africa - Police divers have yet to find the body of a 12-year-old boy who went missing in a tributary of the Sabie River in Mpumalanga on 31 December.
Siyabonga Masango's family believed a mermaid had taken him, but would release him in time for school on Wednesday, after they performed some rituals.
"When I saw his friends going to school this morning I felt as if my son was here, and would be joining them," Siyabonga’s mother Leah said, according to a Sapa correspondent.
"I still believe my son is still alive and am praying that God will help us to get answers. Praying and following rituals will help us and we will not give up," she said.
Lisbeth Nyalungu 43, Siyabonga’s aunt, wants the police dog unit to join the search.
Mpumalanga inland water policing and diving service co-ordinator police spokesperson Pottie Potgieter said another search would be held on Thursday.
"We have not found him yet and we will continue searching for him. The last time we searched was yesterday [Tuesday] and we will continue tomorrow because we're busy with another case today."
He said the current was strong following heavy rains and that divers had searched a 9km stretch of water in vain.
He believed Siyabonga had either drowned or been attacked by a crocodile.
Siyabonga, of Shabalala Trust, near Hazyview, passed Grade 5 at Tfolinhlanhla Primary School last year with good marks and was meant to start Grade 6 on Wednesday.
His uncle Goodman Masango said that on the day the boy disappeared, he said he was going to play soccer.
"At around midday he told his father he was going to play soccer, but his friends later told us that they were with him when he complained of heat and suggested they go swimming.
"An eyewitness who was washing his car saw the boy being pulled into the water. He said he went there with his friends to help, but they couldn't see the boy anymore," Masango said. - News24
NOTE: Mermaids are mythological water creatures with a female body twinned with the tail of a fish. Opinion about the existence of mermaids varies throughout southern Africa...especially in Zimbabwe. Some people are skeptical, but some firmly believe that mermaids exist in Zimbabwe. Dating back centuries, many mermaid stories continue to make their rounds in Zimbabwe. One tale says mermaids carry humans underwater, but if there is a public outcry their relatives might never see them again. But another tale suggests victims can return as spirit mediums if their disappearance is not mourned. Lon
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Here are other accounts of sightings worldwide:
ATLANTIC MERMAID
Location/Date: several miles off the coast of Florida, Atlantic Ocean - 1988 - afternoon
Professional scuba diver Robert Froster was diving alone, looking for mysterious undersea formations, when he noticed a disturbance in the water. When he turned to look, he saw a vague, shadowy figure slashing toward him. All around him the water had begun to churn wildly, and clouds of sediment were swirling.
As the creature rushed toward him, it appeared to undulate, rather than glide. When the fast moving form got to within 20 yards of him, he noticed something odd about it. Appendages like arms, seemed to be reaching out toward him, and the end of each arm appeared to be sharply talon hands. He then saw the creature in full view. He saw an unmistakable pair of breasts, long flowing hair, smooth skin, and scaled tail from the waist down. It appeared to be half woman, half fish. Froster said, "I've never seen such evil hate in the eyes of any human or animal before." Before the creature could reach him, Froster shot up toward the surface and was able to scamper over the side of his craft to safety. He never saw the creature again.
Source: eyewitness account printed in 'Great Southern Mysteries'
NOTE: there have been mermaid/merman reports from various locations off the entire coast of Florida, including historical accounts by the Spanish explorers and native American inhabitants. I talked to a Royal Caribbean cruise steward in 2004 who swears he witnessed a mermaid in the shallows off the island of Grand Bahama near Freeport. He described it as a 5 ft. green colored 'fish-like human' with arms, large frightening eyes and long red hair...Lon
Sirens of the Caribbean
Numerous 'Mermaid' Sightings Reported in Israel
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Feb. 2012
Mermaids have been hounding reservoir workers away!
Essential work on planned reservoirs in Zimbabwe has stopped because mermaids have been hounding workers away, according to the country's Water Resources Minister.
Samuel Sipepa Nkomo told a Zimbabwean parliamentary committee that terrified workers are refusing to return to the sites, near the towns of Gokwe and Mutare.
Minister Nkomo said the only way to solve the problem was to brew traditional beer and carry out any rites to appease the spirits.
'All the officers I have sent have vowed not to go back there', Minister Nkomo was reported as saying in Zimbabwe's state-approved Herald newspaper.
Mermaids are mythological water creatures with a female body twinned with the tail of a fish.
Opinion about the existence of mermaids varies throughout Zimbabwe - some people are skeptical, but some firmly believe that mermaids exist in Zimbabwe.
Dating back centuries, many mermaid stories continue to make their rounds in Zimbabwe.
One tale says mermaids carry humans underwater, but if there is a public outcry their relatives might never see them again.
But another tale suggests victims can return as spirit mediums if their disappearance is not mourned.
The senior politician said that mermaids were also present in other reservoirs.
'We even hired whites thinking that our boys did not want to work but they also returned saying they would not return to work there again,' he added.
The two, long overdue reservoirs are considered essential if Zimbabwe is provide adequate water to its population and to boost its agricultural production.
The belief in mermaids and other mythical creatures is widespread in the country, where many people combine a Christian faith with traditional beliefs.
Runan-shah: The Caspian Humanoids
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June 2013
Mermaid Encounter
A recently published book charting a host of unexplained mysteries in Devon includes a historic sighting of a mermaid off Exmouth
The tale of a mermaid spotted swimming off Exmouth has been included in a new book about the supernatural and paranormal in Devon.
Paranormal Devonby Daniel Codd, is packed full of weird and wonderful stories from across the county, which have been researched and compiled from archives.
Many of the first-hand accounts and contributions included in the book are from ordinary folk living in the county.
The tale of the mermaid dates back to August 1812, when a sea creature was spotted a mile off Exmouth. A man called Mr Toupin was with a group on a sailing trip when he claims they heard music, then saw a creature which was human-like, with a fish tail.
Mr Toupin’s account said the group was drawn to ‘a singular noise, impossible to describe fully but comparable to a wild, tinkling harpsichord melody’.
The party spotted something ‘human-like diving and twisting in the water’.
When the group unsuccessfully tried to attract the creature, they threw boiled fish into the water, which drew the creature nearer. ‘It was no other than a mermaid’, said the account.
Mr Toupin’s detailed description of the creature said: “It had a long, oval face, seal-like, but more agreeable, and hair seemed to crown its upper and back head.
“There is no suggestion ‘she’ was attractive, more like an animal, whose upper arms were covered with a soft fawn or pinkish down.
“It possessed two arms, which it had used to great agility, which terminated in four webbed fingers on each hand.
“Its waist tapered gradually to form a tail, which bore the appearance of shiny scales, while its back bore something like feathers.
“In length it was about five-and-a-half feet, and it appeared to be cavorting playfully near the vessel – before, after three quick plunges, it swam rapidly away and was lost to sight.”
The mermaid sighting in Exmouth followed almost 100 years after a similar creature was caught at Topsham bar, near Exeter, by a group of eight fishermen.
The four-foot ‘mermaid’ had legs, webbed feet, human eyes and mouth, and a salmon-like tail; as it was dying ‘it groan’d like a human creature’.
The creature was put on display at Exeter, and then London, after the group used sticks to knock it down after it leapt out of the fishing net and ‘run away with great swiftness’. - Exmouth Journal
Mermaids: The Myths, Legends, and Lore
The Secret History of Mermaids
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