A husband and father was shot and killed during an invasion at a Dullstroom, Mpumalanga, guesthouse yesterday morning.

Renowned angler John Wickham, from eMalahleni, was shot while protecting his wife Magda from two armed assailants who broke into their unit at a Dullstroom guesthouse at around 04:20.

They awoke from the sound of shattering glass after the robbers gained entry to their unit by smashing a window.

The unit was dark and according to a police source, Magda could see her husband chasing the robbers from their room, after two shots were fired.

John collapsed outside the unit.

A security guard told Magda and fellow travellers to rush John to Belfast Hospital, where he was declared deceased upon arrival.

John had two young sons, who followed in his footsteps to obtain their Protea angling colours. Following his death, a friend said ‘there’s never been a darker day in South African angling’.

John represented South Africa during the Bass World Championships at Sabor Lakes, in Torre de Moncorvo, Portugal, between October 16 and 22.

He has been described as the ‘gentleman of black bass angling’ by friends.

He was affiliated with Gauteng Ebass TTT, boasting a 5.29kg personal best in largemouth bass, and 2kg in the smallmouth category.

He was also a South African Bass Angling Association (SABAA) Mpumalanga committee member and served as the Northern Division junior president.

John took a lot of pride in his role as manager of the Junior Protea Team, with both of his sons Tristan and Nathan, following in his footsteps.

He loved Loskop Dam, which was his favourite angling spot. He realised his dream of watching his sons become respected anglers.

John served as manager of the SABAA presidents team and had two caps each as manager of the Protea junior team and SABAA president anglers.

Andre Booyens, a close friend of John’s, returned from Loskop Dam, his friend’s favourite spot, earlier yesterday when he heard about the murder.

“Senseless, my heart is broken, he was a model father, husband and gentleman. My prayers go out to his family,” he says.

Police launched a massive manhunt for the killers and urge anyone with information to report to the nearest police station.