Community mourns as SANParks enhances security following brutal Kruger killings

Pensioners at the Fynbos Heights retirement village in Mossel Bay are rallying around and supporting the family of an elderly couple who lived among them after the pair was butchered to death in the Kruger National Park.

It has now been almost five days since the blood-caked bodies of Ernst Marais, 71, and his wife Delia, 73, were found floating in a crocodile-infested river inside the park.

The couple, who lived in Mossel Bay but also owned a home in Hoedspruit, Limpopo, had been celebrating Delia’s birthday when tragedy struck.

Hoedspruit is about 50km from the Kruger National Park, one of SA’s largest and best-known game reserves. 

It stretches across the north-eastern part of the country, mainly in Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces, close to the borders of Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

Fynbos Heights general manager Helia Scherman said the brutal killings had left residents traumatised.

"We are interacting with all our residents, and though they are mourning the loss of the Marais couple, they are doing well under the circumstances," she said.

"A group has also been established to ensure the residents and family can communicate.

"The property inside the village belonged to the couple."

It is understood the couple had no children.

Police spokesperson Brigadier Hlulani Mashaba told IOL on Tuesday no arrests had been made.

Mashaba said their bodies were discovered at Crooks Corner on Friday near the confluence of the Luvuvhu and Limpopo rivers.

According to preliminary investigations, Ernst had suffered multiple stab wounds to his upper body, while Delia had also sustained severe upper body injuries believed to have been inflicted with a sharp object.

The couple’s green Ford Ranger double-cab bakkie was still missing.

According to a leaked internal security report, the suspects tied the couple’s hands behind their backs before repeatedly stabbing them in the upper body.

The victims' bodies were subsequently dragged to the banks of the Levubu River at Crooks’ Corner and dumped into the water near its confluence with the Limpopo River, an area known for high Nile crocodile activity.

SA National Parks spokesperson JP Louw said security cameras at the game reserve’s gates showed the missing vehicle had not passed through any of the park’s nine entrance gates or the two international border posts into Mozambique.

Security at the park has also since been beefed up.

"This incident is unprecedented in the more than two-million-hectare park that shares a combined 374km border with Mozambique and Zimbabwe," Louw said.

"No similar occurrence has ever been recorded in its 100-year history."

He said SANParks implemented additional risk mitigation measures across specific areas of concern in the Nxanatseni North Region.

"These actions will reinforce our ongoing commitment to visitor safety and operational readiness," Louw said.

He said key measures included:

• Deploying additional monitoring and ranger resources in specific areas of concern; and
• Enhancing technology systems to strengthen surveillance and early warning capabilities.

For security reasons, he said, SANParks does not disclose operational security details.

"However, SANParks can confirm that existing technology systems assisted in identifying the vehicle linked to the missing tourists," Louw said.

"This capability reflects SANParks’ sustained investment in modern technology to combat poaching and other illegal activities."

Mossel Bay councillor Mark Edgar told IOL: "The Marais couple were residents of a retirement village in ward six.

"Their deaths came as a huge shock as they were a very pleasant couple.

"I just want to send my condolences to their family and call on police to do a thorough investigation into this tragic crime.

"Community safety is of utmost importance and is a priority in SA, the Marais couple were good people not just a statistic."

Mossel Bay mayor Dirk Kotzé told IOL: "Though I did not know them, every resident’s life is precious to us and every life lost is one too many.

"On behalf of the council, my deepest condolences to their loved ones.

"I want to make an appeal to our national government, police, as well as other towns and institutions to do more than what is expected of us, so that the lives of our country’s residents and tourists become their first priority."