A HORRIBLE accident claimed the lives of three people on September 9 at 11pm on Kliprivier Road near the micro light airfield.
According to sources, a white Corsa with three people was parked in the yellow lane and the driver got out of the car to urinate.
A grey Mercedes, the driver of which was apparently under the influence of alcohol, hit the Corsa and the man at about 160km per hour. All three people from the Corsa died instantly.
The driver of the Mercedes sustained no injuries.
A number of ambulances, two fire trucks and tow trucks were first on the scene. “Multiple people repeatedly requested assistance from Brackendowns SAPS, Mondeor SAPS as well as JMPD and EMPD for over three hours. No-one from any of these departments responded – it is their job to contain this accident scene,” the source told the RECORD.
“EMPD said it is JMPD’s area and Brackendowns SAPS said it was Mondeor’s area, and vice versa,” the source said.
CPF members also arrived at the scene to regulate traffic and close down the scene. “We really appreciated the CPF members. While they were trying to regulate traffic, another car drove into a CPF member’s bakkie after the woman apparently told the members that they were not legal authorities. So one accident scene became two accident scenes. The thing that bothers me the most is that there were no police or other legal authorities there to make arrests. The ones on scene cleared the scene and also managed to get the address of the deceased,” the source told the RECORD.
“Does this really mean that there is an area on Kliprivier Road which is ‘no-man’s land’ where no legal authorities will attend to emergencies?
“CPF members always react quickly and they are volunteers who chose to help fight crime in the area, but people are so mean to them. This is just sad because legal authorities are meant to be there to assist. I mean one of the men on scene was busy with a timeline of phone calls that was made that night. That woman who drove into one of the member’s bakkies could have hit one of the other members standing there. These CPF members put their lives at risk,” the source said.
“More worrying,” he said, ” is that there is a window period for a person believed to be under the influence of alcohol, to be tested. With no police there, nothing happened. And we all know the drama around a citizen’s arrest.
“This accident was also posted on social media which saw people respond with comments like: ‘JMPD officers attending an accident scene without a breathalyser.’ Another man posted: ‘Attending to accidents is a huge problem. Visibility is not good at all and we are at risk. We are not allowed to use any form of strobes to assist with visibility. Not having EMPD there for a period of time is totally unacceptable. EMPD are like hen’s teeth – very hard to find on the roads. Condolences to families of the deceased and speedy recovery to to all injured. Bad weekend for road fatalities. Time to get the CPF legal to use white strobes. Like other areas.’
Another man who wishes to stay anonymous had the following to say: “I was one of those on scene to assist. To stand and wait over three hours for Metro Police or SAPS to arrive and take command, is unacceptable. When we eventually stood down, it was only the JMPD accident investigator that stopped to work and all he did was to take photos and give us the go ahead to clear the scene.
“We were passed from Brackendowns SAPS to Mondeor SAPS and back; from JMPD to EMPD and back the entire time. Their response was that this was not their jurisdiction. That is totally unacceptable. This problem needs to be addressed urgently.
“All drivers and passengers at this scene in the primary and secondary collision reeked of alcohol and nothing could be done because there was no law officer in attendance.”
* The RECORD did ask for comment from all parties and will publish it as soon as it is received.
Share your story with us by sending an email to elzaanp@caxton.co.za
For free daily local news in the south, visit our sister newspapers Alberton Record, Comaro Chronicle, Southern Courier and Get it Joburg South Magazine.
Remember to visit our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. You can also email our offices on cvdwalt@caxton.co.za, juliem@caxton.co.za or luckyt@caxton.co.za
Add us on WhatsApp today! Comaro Chronicle: 079 427 8074 and Southern Courier: 079 404 5789.
