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THE CITIZEN (S Africa) 24 October 06 Mpuma man subdues croc with panga
Johannesburg: An Mpumalanga man is being hailed as a "Crocodile Dundee" after surviving a four-hour battle with a huge crocodile at the weekend, News24 reported on Tuesday.
Alex Masinga, 58, of KaMhlushwa in Nkomazi said he first defended himself against the 2.7m female by wrestling with it.
Finally, he plunged his arm down the reptile's throat and drove his new panga into her vital organs.
Fellow-villagers initially refused to believe Masinga's story, but doubt turned to hero worship when he took them to the large corpse.
Masinga spent much of Monday posing with the crocodile for local photographers, showing off his gnawed calf where she bit him on a tributary of the Umlati River.
"I was farming my vegetable patch on Sunday, and it was very hot. The stream was right there, so I grabbed my panga and water bottle to collect some water," said Masinga.
He was ankle-deep when the crocodile latched on to his calf from behind and started dragging him into the water.
"I fought fiercely ... but the crocodile was too strong. The water was up to my chest and I told myself the only way to survive was to use my new panga," he said.
Masinga said he shoved his panga down the crocodile's throat and started twisting it.
"Once that panga was in there I kept on twisting and twisting until the crocodile started to float and I knew I had survived," he said.
Conservation officials found no panga inside the reptile, and doubted Masinga's story.
They suspected he was a poacher who deliberately trapped and killed the crocodile, News24 reported. - Sapa.
Mpuma man subdues croc with panga

NEWS24 (Johannesburg, S Africa) 30 October 06 'Crocodile Dundee' a poacher?
Nelspruit: Police and wildlife authorities are investigating if a man who survived a crocodile attack was, in fact, a poacher.
Police confirmed on Monday that they are investigating a case of poaching against Alex Masinga, 58, of KaMhlushwa in Nkomazi who claims he acted in self-defence when he killed a 2,7m crocodile on October 22.
"We've already interrogated the man and suspect that the crocodile was an innocent victim in all of this," said Tonga police spokesperson Constable Mzwandile Nyambi.
He said police were waiting for a report from Nkomazi wildlife protection services manager Sam Malindisa who is also investigating the matter.
Masinga claims he was went to drink water from a tributary of the Umlati River when the crocodile attacked him from behind, grabbing his calf.
He said the predator tried to drag him into deeper water but that he shoved a panga down its throat, killing it.
However, a preliminary report by Malindisa found pieces of a fishing net and barbed wire inside the crocodile's mouth. The panga wasn't found.
"Without pre-emting the final report we can safely say we do not believe the crocodile attacked Masinga," he said.
Masinga has denied any knowledge of the net or wire and stands by his story.
'Crocodile Dundee' a poacher?