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7 November 2025
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Tragic loss in Patensie: Crop-duster pilot killed in helicopter crash
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South African chef and TV personality, 43-year-old Mynie Steffens, has tragically died in a helicopter crash on Monday, 10 November 2025, on a citrus farm outside the town of Patensie in the Eastern Cape. The aircraft involved was a Robinson R22 (registration ZS-DLF) operated in a pest-control/crop-duster capacity. At approximately 07:45am, the helicopter struck power lines while engaged in spraying operations at the farm (identified as Roodegrond farm) and crashed. Steffens , the sole occupant and pilot, was killed instantly at the scene.
An inquest docket has been opened by the Eastern Cape Police and the South African Civil Aviation Authority’s Accidents and Incidents Investigations Division (AIID) dispatched investigators to the site.
Steffens was widely known not only as an agricultural pilot but also as a television chef, author and television personality. She co-hosted the Afrikaans lifestyle cooking show “Speel met Vuur” on VIA TV, authored a cookbook and was a passionate promoter of South African cuisine and braai culture.
Her passing has drawn tributes from colleagues and friends in the culinary and television community, acknowledging her adventurous spirit and kind nature.
On the morning of the crash, weather conditions were reported to be fine; there’s no indication that weather was a contributing factor in the incident.
Sources: News24, IOL, Sowetan, George Herald
An inquest docket has been opened by the Eastern Cape Police and the South African Civil Aviation Authority’s Accidents and Incidents Investigations Division (AIID) dispatched investigators to the site.
Steffens was widely known not only as an agricultural pilot but also as a television chef, author and television personality. She co-hosted the Afrikaans lifestyle cooking show “Speel met Vuur” on VIA TV, authored a cookbook and was a passionate promoter of South African cuisine and braai culture.
Her passing has drawn tributes from colleagues and friends in the culinary and television community, acknowledging her adventurous spirit and kind nature.
On the morning of the crash, weather conditions were reported to be fine; there’s no indication that weather was a contributing factor in the incident.
Sources: News24, IOL, Sowetan, George Herald