The German tourist who was shot and killed on the Numbi road, has been identified as Joerg Schnarr.

The Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency revealed the victim’s name after it had had a meeting with the survivors.

Schnarr, his wife, Vera, and Reiner Nuchter and his wife, Andrea, were on their way to a lodge near the Kruger National Park’s Numbi Gate when they were stopped by three armed suspects in a Volkswagen Caddy.

Residents in the area claim that three other robberies had occurred just hours before the fatal shooting on the Numbi road on Monday evening.

The residents, on condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation by the suspects, told Lowvelder on the scene that similar incidents had occurred since Sunday.

In the first incident, three occupants of a VW Caddy tried to rob the driver of a Toyota Fortuner with a Western Cape registration number. The driver managed to outsmart the would-be criminals and sped away unharmed. It was reported that three shots were fired at the Fortuner.

Residents reported that the occupants of two vehicles, a VW Polo and Range Rover, were robbed at the same spot in two separate cases, again by occupants of a VW Caddy, earlier on Monday morning, before the incident with the Germans.

“The criminals took their items and let them go. They returned on Monday evening to the same spot, and the murder [of the German] was committed. We heard some noise before we heard a gunshot,” claimed one of the residents.

“They first made sure that the security patrol was at another area of the road before they attacked. They are also targeting cars that have registration plates from other provinces.”

The residents also claimed that criminals are using the speed bumps on the road, which the community made themselves a while ago, to their advantage.

They said that as a vehicle slows down to approach the speed bump, it is attacked.

The Masoyi police’s spokesperson, Captain Nanikie Nonyane, said none of these incidents had been officially reported to them. “The community is asked to immediately report crime or any suspicious behaviour they see to the police, and we urge tourists to open cases if they face instances of crime,” she said.

She added that the station has an active K9 Unit designated to the area, that does regular patrols. The residents, however, believe that with enough police visibility, such incidents would decrease.