Durban family waits in agony for updates following brother’s drowning at Blue Lagoon

A tragic drowning in Durban has left a family in shock, searching for answers and still without closure over a week after the incident.

For Sizwe Mhlongo, who lives in New Zealand, the distance has become an unbearable gap measured not in kilometres, but in silence and uncertainty.

His younger brother, Nkanyiso Vidima, 25, drowned at Blue Lagoon beach on Friday, May 8, along with another young man.

Vidima and others were attending a Shembe prayer gathering at the beach before the situation turned fatal.

“The rescue team told my family that they will call if they find something, but they have been silent since then,” the 37-year-old said.

After praying, the group went into the water carrying a two-litre bottles of seawater.

A large wave then swept them out to sea. One person survived, but Vidima and another young man did not return.

For days, the family has allegedly been left in limbo, waiting for updates that have not come, unable to begin mourning properly without closure.

“Since that unfortunate day, we have not received any updates on their bodies.”

Vidima was studying electrical engineering at Elangeni TVET College’s KwaDabeka campus, a path his family said he was working hard for to build into a stable future.

Mhlongo said the emotional weight has overwhelmed the entire household back home.

“I’m the older brother. This matter has affected my whole family because we don’t know what to do now.”

Hloniphile Mhlongo, 35, told IOL that the family believes a quicker response could have made a difference in the outcome.

“I wish maybe if the rescue team took a step the moment they heard about the crisis, they would have found them.”

She said the emotional toll on their mother has been particularly severe, as the waiting continues without any closure.

“My mom is not alright. She doesn’t sleep hoping she would get a promising phone call. She cries every day, praying they find his body so we can get closure.”

She also described days spent at the beach with no visible progress in the search efforts.

“I would like them to go deep in water if it possible looking for them everywhere they might be, we’ve been there for the whole week last week, but I’ve never seen anything that shows that they are looking for them, we were going up and down hoping to get something.”

She remembers her younger brother as a humble young man with big ambitions for the future.

“Nkanyiso was a very humble person, who loved his family he had big dreams. When he finished school, he wanted to get a good job and build a home for his mom somewhere, not where we are currently staying.”

She also reflected on his involvement in the Shembe faith, noting that he was the only one in the household connected to the religious practice.

“They went there to pray, that’s all I know. I don’t know if they were praying for certain thing.”

Despite the tragedy, she said he came from a deeply loving home in Clermont, where they were raised by their mother with strong values of unity and care.

As the search continues and the family waits in distress, their grief is compounded by uncertainty, a mourning suspended in hope.

IOL News