The Belgian man and Dutch woman who were killed in an attack in Marloth Park next to the Kruger National Park in Mpumalanga last Wednesday “died a brutal death in the violence plagued South Africa”. Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported
Edda Seifert (80) from Belgium and Alberta van der Meer (74), her friend from the Netherlands, joined Seifert’s daughter Edda van den Berg (53) and her husband, Koenraad (Koen) Collier (53), in their holiday home in Marloth Park when the holiday turned into a nightmare.
The couple, originally from Belgium, live in Maputo, Mozambique, where they own a hotel.
Van den Berg and Collier were married for 22 years and have four children studying in Belgium.
Collier and Van der Meer died in the attack.
Van den Berg and Collier were married for 22 years and have four children studying in Belgium.
Family spokeswoman Jaco Badenhorst said two Mozambicans who had previously worked for Collier came to work at the Mansion in Marloth Park that morning.
“One repaired electrical faults and the other a broken lock in a door,” Badenhorst says.
At 1 pm, they were out for lunch.
At around 3 pm, when Van den Berg, Seifert and Van der Meer wanted to leave the house to go shopping, they were attacked by five men, including the two who were at home in the morning, Badenhorst says.
“Of the three who came in, two were Mozambicans and the third was a South African because he could speak a little Afrikaans,” Badenhorst says.
They tied the three women up and put them in the wine cellar.
By that time, Collier was already overwhelmed, Badenhorst says. He was tied up in a locker room.
The five men took Collier to the safe to get money from him. When they failed, they went to fetch Van den Berg to help.
They then pressed rags into their victims’ mouths to suffocate them.
“They used a chemical to numb them, after which they fainted,” Badenhorst says.
He said the men later returned to make sure their victims were dead and noted that 80-year-old Seifert was still fighting fiercely for her life.
“They then pushed and fled more material into the victims’ mouths,” Badenhorst said.
By 10 pm, Seifert unwrapped her hands and released her daughter. Badenhorst said it was dark, but the 80-year-old woman climbed the stairs and switched on a light. That’s when they realized Van der Meer was dead and Collier was not in the basement with them. They found him in the locker room. Someone then pressed the panic button.
The family was in the murder home on Sunday afternoon, but it was “terribly traumatic,” Badenhorst said.
He said the victims were reliving the six hours. “Can you imagine how you would feel if you didn’t get proper oxygen for six hours?”
He says rumors that the workers targeted their employers because of bad labor relations is false. “These are peaceful people. They worked together in Marloth and Mozambique and ate together in the afternoons. ”
Badenhorst also emphasized that this was not a farm attack. “It happened in a residential area.”
According to Brig. Provincial spokesman Leonard Hlathi said police were on the attackers’ trail.
The police investigation is at a sensitive stage and he did not want to give any more information.
Badenhorst says the men got away with cash, a ring, liquor, cell phones and gold coins. They left behind a pistol.
According to Badenhorst, Van der Meer’s son, Victor, 47, had already arrived in South Africa from America for the post-mortem processes. Alberta’s body will be taken back to the Netherlands on Tuesday.
Police have appealed to anyone with information about the attack in Marloth Park to Call Vusi Moses Thobela on 082 449 0242.
