South African Student Found Dead at Mpumalanga Lodge, Murder Case Opened

Early results from the post-mortem examinations suggest that a student from the Grade 11 class at St Stithians College may have died from strangulation, while a former student of the school and reportedly her boyfriend may have taken his own life through suicide, according to South African police.

The murder investigation into the deaths of Cameron Waldeck-Cooks, 17, and Ethan Coetzee, 19, has been launched by the police in Mpumalanga. Col. Mavela Masondo, police spokesperson, stated that the inquest into the deaths of the two individuals was downgraded after examinations were concluded. Early findings have revealed that the cause of death was strangulation for the younger individual and suicide for the older one.

According to Masondo, the police are currently trying to establish exactly what occurred.

Cameron Waldeck-Cooks and Ethan Coetzee were discovered dead on Monday at a self-service holiday cabin located near Sabie, a city situated about 350 kilometers away from Johannesburg in Mpumalanga. The pair was discovered in the same room in the holiday cabin, as reported by News24. Initially, police believed that the pair may have overdosed on drugs.

Waldeck-Cooks was enrolled as a student at St Stithians Girls’ College in Johannesburg, and Coetzee recently graduated from the affiliated Boys’ College in 2025.

In a statement issued Friday, the parents of the pupil, Derrick Cooks and Claire Waldeck-Cooks, stated that they had retained their own forensic pathologist. They claimed that the expert has informed them that preliminary findings reveal that their daughter had died due to strangulation and suffocation. The parents explained that Waldeck-Cooks was close to completing her President’s Award for Youth Empowerment Gold Award, which is similar to the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, and that she accompanied two families on a hiking trip in Sabie as part of this program.

They were informed on Aug. 3 that a man named Graham Coetzee had discovered their daughter’s body. Coetzee was reported as being the girl’s boyfriend, and the two were found in the same room, according to the reports from TimesLIVE.

No suspect has been named yet by the police, as they have not made any statement concerning the nature of their relationship.

Both Cameron Waldeck-Cooks and Ethan Coetzee have been remembered by St Stithians College, a private educational institution located in Johannesburg.

The memory of Waldeck-Cooks who was a student since Grade R was fondly shared with a lot of praise for the outstanding performance and personality. Coetzee, in turn, has been remembered as an outstanding athlete with great academic achievements.