Four men clung to their boat at the edge of a dam wall. One wrong move could have ended everything. The right ones brought them home.
Vaal River, South Africa (01 January 2026) – For the teams that wear the NSRI badge, answering the call is instinct. But nothing could have prepared them for the sight at Grootdraai Dam. A ski-boat suspended at the spillway, four men clinging to it and water surging beneath them like a ticking clock. The rescue that followed was nothing short of remarkable.
Just after 7pm on Monday, the 29th of December 2025, an urgent request for help reached NSRI Witbank and NSRI Gauteng. Police divers had reported that four men were trapped at the dam wall spillway, drifting in fast-flowing water with their ski-boat malfunctioning and threatening to drag them over the edge… a 40-metre drop into the Vaal River. Both NSRI crews immediately hit the road, Witbank hauling the rescue craft Harveys Fibreglass 140 kilometres to Standerton, and Gauteng towing the Rotary Endeavour from Benoni, 143 kilometres away. At the dam, personnel from the Department of Water and Sanitation, SAPS, Delta 1 Search and Rescue, Police K9 Search and Rescue, Mpumalanga Fire and Rescue, and EMS were already on scene, but unable to physically reach the men.
The scene was almost surreal. The ski-boat appeared to be suspended on a vacuum created by the water flow, stopping it from being swept over, something the NSRI only later realised was due to quick actions by the Department of Water and Sanitation. A team member had opened three sluice gates at the spillway, reducing the pressure just enough to hold the boat in place. It was an instinctive decision that bought precious time.
NSRI Witbank station commander Travis Clack led the rescue. With rescue crew and a civilian with intimate knowledge of the dam aboard, they launched between three and four kilometres upstream and began the approach, navigating strong winds, unpredictable current and a rescue zone that offered zero margin for error.
“I made the decision to go bow ahead towards the casualties with reverse gears ready to be engaged at a moment’s notice,” Travis explained.
The original plan to drift backwards had to be abandoned when the wind began tossing the rescue craft dangerously.
As they drew within reach, the team saw all four men at the stern of their ski-boat, wearing life jackets and gripping the hull. The intention had been to bring them in one at a time but that changed when the crew felt the might of the current.
“Initially, the considerations were to rescue one at a time,” Travis said. “But when we got there, seeing the strength of the water flow… the realisation was that my rescue team and the four casualties would only get one chance – so we shouted at them to all grab the throw line and to hold on – wrap the throw line around your arms and hold on tight.”
A throw line with a soft rescue buoy was launched. One of the men grabbed it. The others hesitated, scared of losing their grip and being pulled into the current, but they trusted the instructions. In seconds, all four were linked to the rescue craft by a single line.
Then the pull began.
With the engine in reverse and crew hauling the rope hand-over-hand, the rescue craft fought the water, inching the men away from the spillway. It was a calculated risk played out in real time, the sort of decision that could not be made twice. Finally, a shift: the current eased. The line slackened. One by one, the men were lifted aboard and taken to shore, where emergency responders stood waiting. All four were medically assessed and found to be uninjured.
Their ski-boat, still trapped on the spillway edge, remains under observation as authorities monitor options for recovery. But there was no question about priorities that night. The mission was life first. Everything else could wait.
This rescue was a display of expertise, instinct and sheer human will.
When lives hung in the balance at Grootdraai Dam, our rescue services did what they do best. They showed up. They assessed. They acted. And four men get to live the rest of their lives because of it.
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