Michael Traut, 49, was hiking with eight other hikers in the Silvermine Nature Reserve, when they were viciously assaulted by two robbers.
Five of the people sustained serious injuries, with one man having to undergo a four-hour operation. This included Don and Yvonne Cormack who were also attacked.
RELATED: UK hiker speaks out about horror Cape mountain knife attack
Traut was seriously injured when he was hit with a rock in his face. He sustained an injury to his lip and lost six of his teeth. Two of his fingers were also cut with a knife.
“We were walking on the trail when the men started attacking us. They stabbed Don who I tried to help but then one of them hit me with a rock in my face. I fell to the ground and they took my camera, watch, wallet, phone and hiking boots.
"I had to walk about 2km in my socks, where we waited for the rescue helicopter. It was the first time me and my friend Chomisyah from Indonesia hiked on the mountain. The attack was traumatic for her. She luckily did not get hurt,” he said.
Chomisyah said: “The robbers screamed that they wanted our belongings and started stabbing one of the men. When Michael wanted to help him they hit him with the rock in his face and cut two of his fingers with a knife. I was luckily not hurt. One of the other women who was also attacked with a rock hid in a tree. After the attack we found people who helped us. It was very scary,” she said.
SA National Parks (SANParks) regional communications manager Merle Collins said the arrest of two people recently was in connection with a mugging on Platteklip and Signal Hill earlier this year.
SANParks cautioned people not to take the law into their own hands and interfere in official law enforcement duties.
“Further operational meetings will take place during the course of this week with SANParks, the SAPS and law enforcement agencies,” Collins said.
Cape Argus