Officers were called to Orient Beach in KuGompo city, formerly East London, on Tuesday morning where they found the woman's body, Eastern Cape police spokesperson Col. Siphokazi Mawisa told The Associated Press.
"The Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality is deeply saddened to confirm that a fatal shark attack occurred at the Orient Beach this morning, resulting in the tragic loss of a swimmer," municipal spokesman Luzuko Buku said in a statement.
Fellow swimmer Mike Loewe told state broadcaster SABC that members of an open-water swimming group responded to the woman's distress signal and brought her ashore.
A medic in the group tried to save her, but she was declared dead at the scene, he said.
"She liked to swim solo," Loewe said.
"She was courageous."
He described the victim as a recently retired nuclear radiographer and a musician and said her death had devastated the local swimming community.
The municipality has closed Orient Beach and nearby Eastern Beach until further notice.
South Africa is known for its great white sharks and shark tourism, but shark attacks are rare.
According to municipal records, the city's last fatal shark attack was in 1997, and its most recent reported attack occurred in 2023.
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