Cape Town – A small wooden cross on a memorial stone and a much larger one nearby can be seen in a video (see drone footage) posted on Facebook of Voëlklip beach, west of Herolds Bay, about seven months ago.
Since then, four people have lost their lives. Eight people died in the area from November 3, 2015 to April 29, 2016.
The latest victim was the 52-year-old Zonita Basson, a realtor from George known for her big heart. Her Chevrolet Spark, with its lights on, plunged down a 100m cliff into the sea, at about 9.45pm on Tuesday. No foul play is suspected.
On October 22, the 35-year-old Heidi Scheepers and her two children, the 6-year-old Cuzette and 2-year-old Hugo, lost their lives when their VW Caravelle crashed into the sea in the early evening.
On Thursday, it emerged from a George city council meeting that a fence will be erected at the Voëlklip beach lookout point, Die Burger reported.
According to the city planning and development deputy director, Delia Power, the area is on private land and the owner apparently also wants to build a parking lot for cars away from the cliffs. However, pedestrians will still have access to the cliffs.
Power is awaiting feedback from the Department of Environmental Affairs regarding coastal access regulations and whether such a fence is permissible.
Three Nelson Mandela Bay University students also died in the early hours in November 2015 at Voëlklip beach after their Toyota bakkie plunged down the cliff after leaving a gravel road.
On April 29, 2016, the 62-year-old Tobias Koen died when his light delivery vehicle went over the cliffs at Voëlklip beach.
Koen was the eighth person to have died at Voëlklip beach since November the previous year:
* On November 3, 2015, Gabriël Harker, 38, from Le Vallia, drowned when a wave swept him off the rocks while angling with friends.
* On November 15, Werner Finger, 20, Luandro Jansen, 21, and Marnic Els, 20, from George, died when the bakkie they were in careened down the cliff.
* On Desember 22, Josh Allpass, 14, from George, and Warrick Dickson, 14, from Kimberley, drowned when a wave washed them off the rocks.
* On April 10, 2016, Parkdene teacher Richard Meyer, 38, was washed off the rocks.
* On April 30, Koen died when his bakkie plunged down the cliff.