Where did Cameron and Ethan die? Sabie, the quiet town at the centre of a murder investigation
· The South African
A modest lodge in the small Mpumalanga hiking town of Sabie, is now the scene of a murder investigation, after a Grade 11 St Stithians pupil, Cameron Waldeck-Cooks, and a recent alumnus, Ethan Coetzee, were found dead there on a family hiking trip.
Here’s what we know about the town itself.
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Sensitive content: this article deals with the death of a minor and details of an ongoing murder investigation.
The town
Sabie sits deep in Mpumalanga’s Lowveld, roughly a four-hour drive from Johannesburg and about an hour from the southern gates of the Kruger National Park.
It grew out of the 1870s gold rush, but its fortune today comes from forestry.
The town is ringed by one of the largest man-made forests in the world, and its economy runs on timber and tourism in fairly equal measure.
The Panorama Route
Sabie is a natural base for exploring the Panorama Route, the scenic corridor that takes in God’s Window, Bourke’s Luck Potholes and the Blyde River Canyon.
It also sits at the head of South Africa’s densest cluster of waterfalls, among them Mac Mac Falls, Lone Creek Falls, Horseshoe Falls, Forest Falls and Bridal Veil Falls, most of which are a short drive from the town centre.
A hiking hub
The area suits exactly the kind of trip Cameron Waldeck-Cooks had signed up for.
Sabie’s forests are threaded with trails, from short day walks to the multi-day Fanie Botha hiking trail, making it an ideal setting for a multi-day adventurous journey of the kind required for the Gold level of the President’s Award for Youth Empowerment, the goal Cameron was working towards when she joined the trip.
It was this suitability, rather than any particular reputation for the award itself, that brought her and Ethan Coetzee to the town.
Cost and character
It would be easy to assume, given that Cameron and Ethan were both connected to one of Johannesburg’s most prestigious private schools, that the lodge they stayed at was similarly exclusive.
It wasn’t.
Sabie town is not a high-end destination. It’s a working forestry town, and its guest lodges and B&Bs typically charge in the region of R1 000 to R2 500 a night.
It draws hikers, families and school groups rather than a wealthy elite crowd.
That distinction matters, because Sabie is often confused with the far pricier Sabi Sands Game Reserve, which shares part of the same broader region near Kruger National Park.
Sabi Sands’ private lodges charge anywhere from R13 000 to R29 000 per person per night, and are aimed squarely at high-end safari tourism.
Sabie town, where this group stayed, sits in a different category altogether, an accessible, everyday hiking base rather than a luxury retreat.
The lodge
Cameron and Ethan were staying at a guest lodge in Sabie when they were found dead in the same room on the morning of Monday, 3 August.
Police were called to the scene at around 07:50.
No outlet has published the name of the lodge.
One regional title, Lowvelder, has said it knows the name but that the establishment could not be reached for comment, and has chosen not to publish it while the investigation is ongoing.
What the location tells us, and what it doesn’t
Sabie’s profile as a hiking and adventure tourism town explains why the group was there.
It does not explain what happened once they arrived.
Police have not released details of the lodge’s layout, how many guests or staff were on site that night, or what, if anything, was witnessed by others staying there.
Those questions remain open as the murder investigation continues.