President of Agri SA Johannes Möller identified the victims as Jannie Boshoff, Jannie Kemp and Theuns van Rensburg who were all members of the KwaZulu-Natal Agricultural Union (Kwanalu) - an affiliate of Agri SA.
“They had attended the congress of Kwanalu. I spoke to them during the congress and their death is not only a loss for Kwanalu but also for Agri SA,” said Möller.
They were killed on Thursday after their plane crashed in bushes and caught fire.
ER24 said the incident happened at around 5.30pm.
After arriving on the scene, three paramedics and a firefighter set out on foot to locate the aircraft, said ER24 spokeswoman Vanessa Jackson.
“After about an hour of walking up the mountain through dense bush, they arrived at the crash site, where they found the wreckage of a light fixed wing aircraft, extensively damaged...”
It was still unclear what caused the crash. - Sapa
Three Newcastle farmers died yesterday afternoon when their light aircraft crashed outside Cato Ridge.
Statements issued by ER24 spokeswoman, Vanessa Jackson, said that the crash occured on September 13 at around 5.30pm.
"Paramedics from Durban and Pietermaritzburg immediately set off to find the scene, which was explained as being in the Valley of a Thousand Hills," she said.
It took paramedics close to an hour to reach the crash site, she added, as they had to walk up the mountain through dense bush. The bodies of the victims were burnt beyond recognition, continued Ms Jackson.
National media coverage explained that witnesses had reported seeing black smoke coming from the plane shortly before it crashed in dense bush and mountainous terrain in the vicinity of Nagle Dam.
The plane, which was believed to have been a Beechcraft F33 Bonanza, was apparently on its way to Newcastle after taking off from the Pietermaritzburg airport.
However, it has been confirmed that the three victims were from Newcastle, and were well known farmers in the community.
Updates to follow.
Cape Town - Emergency personnel on Thursday made a grisly discovery when they responded to reports of a plane crash in the vicinity of Cato Ridge, in KwaZulu-Natal.
After reports came in around 17:30 that an aircraft crashed in the Valley of a Thousand Hills, paramedics from Durban and Pietermaritzburg rushed to the scene, ER24 spokesperson Vanessa Jackson said.
The scene was inaccessible by vehicle, and the paramedics and a fire official had to hike for half an hour up the mountain where they found the wreckage of a light aircraft, extensively damaged and ablaze, Jackson said.
"All that they could make out was the charred remains of three people, and due to their extensive burns, it was not possible for them to be made out as adults or children, men or women," she said.
"It is not clear as to what caused the aircraft to crash, but locals who were the first to find the wreckage said that it appeared that black smoke was coming from the plane before it crashed."
She said thorough investigations will need to be conducted into the cause of the crash.
This is the second light aircraft crash in the KZN area this week, after a plane crashed near Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday.
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