Three friends from Pretoria had a close shave when they were attacked at the seaside village of Mtwaluma, 87km south of Durban, at the weekend.
Hein Cronje, along with his friend and business partner, Hugo Meyer, and their mutual friend, Cherne van der Merwe decided to take a spontaneous trip to Mtwaluma for a few days before starting a new business venture in Pretoria this week.
The trio arrived at their destination around 03:00 on Sunday morning and decided to take a quick walk down to the beach. Cronje parked their car in the street where they left all their valuables and went to sit on a pathway not more than 100 metres from the ocean.
Meyer and Van der Merwe moved closer to the waves, where they were suddenly surrounded by five armed men who demanded their wallets and cellphones.
“We were looking at the ocean with our backs to the bushes and suddenly I just saw a few men armed with knives around us. The one next to me ordered me to take off my jacket and give it to him and that’s when I saw two other men wrestling with Hugo and attacking him a few metres away from me,” said Van der Merwe.
Three of the attackers ordered Van der Merwe to take them to Cronje who was still sitting at the pathway, about 100 metres away. At that point he was still unaware of the attack on his friends.
Cronje said: “There I was, enjoying the scenery, when I saw a few figures in the dark approaching me, I thought it was Cherne and Hugo. I noticed one figure quickly started running and rushed past me into the bushes, not realising it was Cherne at that moment. That was when I saw three armed men in front of me, pointing a gun at my face.”
Cronje tried to convince the armed man not to shoot him. He tried to grab the gun, but failed and once again the attacker pushed the barrel in his face. Without saying another word, one of the other attackers grabbed a cooler box next to Cronje and the three of them disappeared into the darkness.
Cronje rushed down the beach, looking for Meyer and Van der Merwe when he noticed Meyer floating in the water. He dragged his friend out of the water and noticed Meyer was bleeding profusely from three stab wounds.
“I saw Cherne’s jacket was in the water and rolled it up into a ball to put pressure on Hugo’s wounds,” said Cronje.
Cronje left Meyer to call for help at the nearest house. Netcare 911 ambulances arrived and took Meyer to hospital between 06:00 and 07:00 Sunday morning.
Van der Merwe said she left the bushes by dawn.
“I heard screams for help and dogs barking earlier, but was too afraid to leave the bushes. I was scared those men would come back and kill me.”
A police car picked her up in the street and took her to the scene where Meyer was being treated. He was taken to the Turton Community Health Centre for further treatment.
A day later, Cronje decided it would be wise to return to Pretoria for Meyer to get proper medical care.
Meyer was admitted to the Medicross Silverton Medical Centre and was in surgery for about two hours to drain fluid from his lungs.
He was discharged on Wednesday afternoon.
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