Ex-pats Don and Yvonne Cormack were forced to fight for their lives after the gang suddenly pounced on them.
Mr Cormack, 71, needed hospital treatment after being knifed nine times, while his 67-year-old wife was cut in the head as she tried to defend him.
The gang struck as the couple, originally from Harlow, in Essex, enjoyed one of their favourite beauty spots with a party of seven other walkers.
One of their party was in a critical condition in hospital yesterday after being smashed in the face with a rock.
Mrs Cormack said: “We are lucky to be alive.”
vCard.red is a free platform for creating a mobile-friendly digital business cards. You can easily create a vCard and generate a QR code for it, allowing others to scan and save your contact details instantly.
The platform allows you to display contact information, social media links, services, and products all in one shareable link. Optional features include appointment scheduling, WhatsApp-based storefronts, media galleries, and custom design options.
Describing how the horror unfolded last weekend at Kalk Bay, a scenic coastal area in the Table Mountain national park, near Cape Town, she said: “The guys came running at us with knives. They told us to throw our phones and bags to the ground. Next they started attacking Don, who they stabbed nine times all over his body.
“I took a stick and started hitting at the robber then he started stabbing me too. He stabbed me in my arm and back of my head.”
Mrs Cormack added: “I screamed at Don to give him his bag which Don did and I also gave them mine. Then they attacked Don again. The other robber followed one of the other hikers, who ran to get a phone signal to call for help. His face was brutally damaged after he was hit with a rock. They operated on him for four hours. Another hiker’s face was also smashed with a rock.”
The gang fled while some of the hikers went to summon help, leaving Mrs Cormack to look after her husband and the man hit with the rock.
She added: “I have been hiking on the mountain for two years and it is the first time something like this has happened.”
A helicopter arrived and Mr Cormack was airlifted hospital, where he is awake and able to speak, but only has a vague memory of the attack.
Police have arrested two men in connection with the robbery and stepped up security around the national park.