Body of missing hiker found
The body of Devereaux Pienaar (53), an engineer from Pretoria was found earlier today in the Wolkberg wilderness area. The cause for his death his unknown at this time.
LIMPOPO –Â The body of Devereaux Pienaar (53), an engineer from Pretoria was found earlier today in the Wolkberg wilderness area. This has been confirmed in various social media reports.
The cause for his death his unknown at this time. Review has contacted the police for further information.
25 October
LIMPOPO – One of two brothers, Nico Pienaar from Witbank and Devereaux, an engineer from Pretoria started what must have been a two-day hike in the Wolkberg Wilderness Area on 15 October.
They reached a place called Devil’s Knuckles and seeing as the hike took longer than expected, decided to return to their vehicle, left at the Serala admin offices.
Low on supplies and no water, they decided to take a shortcut which they believed would bring them to a gravel road. They got lost and Nico lost Devereaux on the way.
He decided, after looking and calling for his brother, to carry on when reached the dam wall at the Ramodike dam on day six. He encountered another predicament: the dam wall was extremely high and there was no way for him to climb down it. There was also no path to reach the bottom. He climbed through a hole in the fence and walked to the edge of the wall and saw a man and shouted down for assistance. The man came up and assisted him, putting his own shoes on Nico, who had lost his shoes in a river. He walked Nico to a shop in the Thabine village, bought him a can of baked beans, a can of pilchards and an energy drink and allowed Nico to contact his family via Facebook.
Authorities were alerted and Nico was taken to The Hangar in Haenertsburg where he received medical treatment and which also served as the base of operations for search efforts by the Haenertsburg Neighbourhood Watch, Search and Rescue Pretoria, Search and Rescue Polokwane, Search and Rescue Tzaneen, the Letaba Fire Protection Association (LFPA) and the SAPS, who have since worked around the clock to locate Devereaux.
Heavy mist on Wednesday hampered the search operation but it is still continuing. Earlier this morning there still was no news regarding the missing hiker, however, the Haenertsburg, Magoebaskloof, ‘The Mountain’ Company Facebook page says although Devereaux was not found, rescuers say there were some positive findings on Thursday.
Since the rescue mission began, volunteers from the community and surrounding areas have gotten involved but are in need of the following supplies:
- Energy bars
- Gummy sweets
- Peanuts
- Raisins
- Water
- Any other Consumables
Those wishing to assist with supplies can drop them off at the Tzaneen Show Grounds or contact Naomi at 083 272 1998
