{"id":369936,"date":"2026-08-09T05:23:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T05:23:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/369936\/"},"modified":"2026-08-09T05:23:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T05:23:02","slug":"chilling-murder-claim-linked-to-death-of-st-stithians-teen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/369936\/","title":{"rendered":"Chilling \u2018murder\u2019 claim linked to death of St Stithians teen"},"content":{"rendered":"

Story audio is generated using AI<\/p>\n

A searing account of the deaths of St Stithians schoolgirl Cameron Waldeck-Cooks and her boyfriend Ethan Coetzee a week ago, purportedly written by the girl\u2019s brother, accuses Coetzee of having murdered his 17-year-old sister. <\/p>\n

The allegation is made in a post on Instagram and X that bears the name of Cameron\u2019s brother \u2014 also called Ethan \u2014 but whose authorship has not been confirmed. The post describes how Waldeck-Cooks once regarded Coetzee as a brother and describes the pain of seeing his sister\u2019s image published alongside his. <\/p>\n

The post claims Cameron was strangled and suffered several other injuries. \u201cShe was murdered by Ethan Coetzee,\u201d it says. \u201cThere was no drug overdose, no poison, no suicide pact,\u201d it continues, apparently referring to speculation on social media this week.<\/p>\n

Ethan Coetzee suffocated my sister to death by strangulation. She did not pass peacefully<\/p>\n

\u2014 \u00a0Tweet attributed to Ethan Waldeck-Crooks<\/p>\n

\u201cEthan Coetzee suffocated my sister to death by strangulation. She did not pass peacefully.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement flies in the face of the glowing tributes to Coetzee that have poured since the deaths at an Mpumalanga guest house and lays bare the anguish of the Waldeck-Cooks family, who had welcomed the relationship between Cameron and her rugby player boyfriend. <\/p>\n

Ethan Coetzee (Supplied) <\/p>\n

\u201c[Coetzee] always treated me with kindness and respect and he enlightened my family,\u201d the post says. But \u201cto me, all his virtuous deeds mean nothing now\u201d.<\/p>\n

Police initially opened an inquest into the deaths, normal procedure when no crime is suspected. But this was changed to a murder probe after an autopsy indicated that Cameron died from strangulation and suffocation.<\/p>\n

The post about Cameron says she died on August 2 in the large Sabie holiday house where the couple had been staying with a group of friends and acquaintances, and it takes issues with the way the deaths have been presented in the media.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing insensitive headlines on the news about her is infuriating and inexcusable,\u201d it says. \u201cAnd having their pictures put next to each other on every page is impossible to bear witness to<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

A screengrab of a post, believed to have been posted by Ethan Waldeck-Cooks about his sister’s death. (Instagram) <\/p>\n

Cameron\u2019s parents, Derrick Cooks and Claire Waldeck-Cooks, have said their daughter travelled to Sabie for a hiking trip as part of her efforts to qualify for the gold level of the President\u2019s Award for Youth Empowerment, the South African version of the Duke of Edinburgh\u2019s International Award. This award, created 70 years ago, is a global, non-competitive \u201clearning framework for young people to develop essential life skills\u201d. <\/p>\n

Cooks said Cameron had been invited to join the Coetzees and another family for the hike and she saw it as an opportunity to complete the multi-day \u201cadventurous journey\u201d required for the award.<\/p>\n

The teenagers were staying at Waterval self-catering holiday home, a five-bedroom property about 1km outside Sabie on the R37 towards Lydenburg.<\/p>\n

Cameron\u2019s parents said they were informed on the morning of August 3 that Ethan Coetzee\u2019s father Graham had discovered the bodies. Other reports have said cleaning staff discovered the bodies at about 7.30am. They were found in the same room. <\/p>\n

Coetzee, 19, who matriculated from St Stithians Boys\u2019 College last year, is widely described in tributes as having been a talented athlete who played first-team rugby and competed in equestrian events. St Stithians described him as a young man of \u201cstrength, commitment and humility\u201d.<\/p>\n

While police believe Coetzee died by suicide, the precise circumstances and manner of his death have not been publicly established. <\/p>\n

Cameron, who like Coetzee had attended St Stithians since grade R, was remembered by her school and family for her \u201cquiet strength, warmth and determination\u201d. She took part in rowing. played netball and was known \u201cfor supporting younger pupils\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe trauma he caused her and my family will not be forgotten,\u201d the post attributed to her brother says. \u201cI know my sister and what she stands for. And that is to speak up.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Coetzee family could not be reached for comment. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Story audio is generated using AI A searing account of the deaths of St Stithians schoolgirl Cameron Waldeck-Cooks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":369937,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[52],"tags":[175207,176879,176228,175203,176876,176878,176875,1180,64967,131,175205,176877,176230,176880],"class_list":["post-369936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-south-africa","tag-cameron-waldeck-cooks","tag-claire-waldeck-cooks","tag-derrick-cooks","tag-ethan-coetzee","tag-ethan-waldeck-cooks","tag-graham-coetzee","tag-inquest-docket","tag-murder","tag-sabie","tag-south-africa","tag-st-stithians","tag-strangled","tag-the-presidents-award-for-youth-empowerment","tag-waterval-self-catering-holiday-home"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@africa\/117063883472724045","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/369937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}