Johan and Magda Van der Meulen suffer fractured skulls from frenzied machete-attack, Mozambique resort

Johan and Magda Van der Meulen sustain skull-fractures but survive frenzied machete-attack at their Mozambican camping: Journalist Erika Gibson reports 4 Dec 2013. The attacker known only as Raymond was killed in the attack. The Van der Meulen couple were rushed to Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg, said their son Nico. His dad Johan 56 and stepmother Magda 55 are in a stable condition, he said. Magda was hacked three times with the panga and has already undergone two operations. 'My dad has a slash across the middle of his skull but he's already making jokes again,' he said. He expects his parents to be up and about soon and able to return to Mozambique to continue running their holiday-resort. The Mozambican police have indicated that no action will be taken against Mr Van der Meulen regarding the death of the attacker because he had acted in self-defence. The man attacked the couple inside their cottage on Friday just after midnight at the Nhabanga Paradise resort, located next to the Bilene Lake in northern Maputo. The attacker cut through the cottage's door with a panga and was busy climbing through it when Magda fell over him as she walked to the bathroom. The man immediately hacked away at her with the panga and her screams brought Johan to her rescue. Magda's jaw, back of the skull, an arm and a leg were slashed. "My dad started struggling with the man and bashed the man's head against the wall but was already hacked by the panga-man by then. When he pushed the attacker to the ground the man bit through one of his pinkies.. "Raymond used to be the night watchman but he walked away from his job and then started behaving very aggressively and irrationally with his family, tying up his wife to a tree and repeatedly beating his son. The man had a grudge against my dad which was rather ironic because my dad lives with the local community. When he saw they were holding their religious services beneath a tree he built them a church. The community has a lot of respect for him.' A Mozambican worker on the neighbouring resort rushed to help the couple and contacted his employer Klaus Fischer of Rustenburg. “Oom Klaus arranged an air-ambulance and paid cash for it. The neighbours helped to get my parents to the Xai-Zai hospital and then to Maputo where the air-ambulance picked them up. Meanwhile Raymond's family has let us know that they are 'delighted that he is no longer terrorising them. He had that panga sharpened just before the attack at two workshops nearby and he knew exactly what he was planning to do." said the son. He is going to handle the december guests at his parents resort he said. "We are booked solid and we regard this as an isolated crime-incident such as the ones one has already gotten so used to in South Africa,' said Nico. (original report in http://www.beeld.com) https://www.facebook.com/pages/Boere-Krisis-Aksie-BKA/116298045063416?fref=ts