SHOCKED Andries Mashiloane and his family are grateful to be alive after their house was occupied by a notorious Mozambique spitting cobra snake.
From Malubane section in Mkhuhlu near Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, Mashiloane told Daily Sun that his son (15) was about to take a nap on Saturday afternoon when he saw the snake entering the house from the opened door.
“He shouted for help, and I jumped to investigate the problem. He told me that a snake had entered our house, and I immediately closed the door so it doesn’t escape. Then I contacted Cockroach Mdluli because he removes snakes in the Mkhuhlu area,” he shared.
“I am glad my son saw it when it entered because I believe it was going to catch us off-guard and bite us. Cockroach is our hero because he saved our lives by removing this dangerous snake. The lesson is for us to keep our door closed,” he added.
Bushbuckridge Local Municipality fire and rescue worker Cockroach Mdluli said the spitting cobra was about 2,4m long. They removed and handed it over to the Kruger National Park.
“On Thursday, we had another incident where a young boy was bitten by a black mamba at Ronaldsey village after he accidentally injured it. He was rushed to hospital. Unfortunately, we had to search for the snake and kill it because it was too dangerous in the community. We urge residents to be careful and look out for snakes because due to the recent heavy rains, they have fled from the bushes,” Mdluli said.