A Johannesburg man has been hailed a hero after rescuing a terrified child stuck on a pipe above a flooded river.
In a video shared by user Yusuf Abramjee on Twitter, a man can be seen shimmying across the pipe to where the boy was stranded.
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He then puts the boy on his back and continues across the heavily-flooded Jukskei River to the applause of onlookers.
The man, later identified by news24 as Vincent Cosa, told the news outlet that the river acts as a playground for local children.
"I see children play there all the time and when I saw him there, I could not fold my hands and watch from the sidelines. I told myself if he dies I will die with him," he said.
"He was sitting there crying in fear. I looked at him and thought of my own children. It could have been my own child."
However, saving the boy from the river was only half of his heroics as Mr Cosa then went on to protect the boy from any punishment from his family.
Cosa said the boy's parents "did not say much, but they wanted to punish him," and he stood against it.
"I believe his was an honest mistake and he probably got stuck there as the flash flood came."
The province of Gauteng has been experiencing unusually heavy rain over the past month and several flash flood warnings have been issued during that time.
Newshub.
