The tragedy happened at the busy crossing of Annan Road and Kaolin Street in Carletonville at around 16:15, during peak afternoon traffic, on 2 June. According to the Carletonville police’s communication officer, WO Peter Masooa, a truck with the registration number YJR749GP was on its way to offload grain at the Oberholzer silos when it failed to brake at the crossing. An eyewitness told police that the driver was already hooting before it sped over the four-way stop at 007; they suspect the truck’s brakes had failed. Although some drivers could dodge the runaway truck, some were not as lucky. The truck hit four cars, including a silver Volkswagen Polo, which was crushed beneath it. The truck eventually stopped when it hit a tree on the island in front of the Ford dealership. The impact of the crash was so big that the truck’s cab tore off and landed on the ground several metres from the engine and trailer. A detective from Carletonville was one of the first people at the scene and notified colleagues and other emergency services. According to ER24’s communication officer, Russell Meiring, their paramedics were among those who soon arrived at the scene. “Medics assessed the patients and found that the drivers of the truck and Polo had already succumbed to their numerous injuries. Nothing could be done for them and they were declared dead. Four patients, including an 11-year-old boy, were assessed and found to have sustained moderate injuries,” he says. The patients were treated and transported to the Carletonville and Fountain Private hospitals for further care. According to Masooa, the truck driver was identified as Mr C. Malawana of Randfontein Farms. On Tuesday, the distraught family of the Polo driver – 28-year-old Mr Lebohang Victor Lekhabane – gathered at the scene of the crash. “Lebohang lived in Midrand and had just quickly come to Carletonville to see someone. “That person started phoning around when he did not arrive in time and found out what had happened. The police notified us the next day,” says his uncle, Mr Andries Mateu from Mahikeng.
“He was a humble person who was always laughing. He had a bright future; he finished his engineering degree at Unisa and was working for a company that worked on machines at the hospitals,” says his cousin, Mr Lebohang Klaas Moahloli, with whom he was very close. Moahloli, who is a long-distance truck driver himself, believes the accident could have been prevented if there were double sets of speed humps at all the crossings on the main route in town. However, some of the residents who have witnessed previous accidents caused by runaway trucks in Annan Road believe this would not have stopped the truck. They propose that something like sandbanks on the side of the road and islands before and after the 007 crossing would be a better safety measure. The Herald asked the municipality and the provincial and national traffic authorities about the possibility of doing this. “The municipality met with the provincial government and Sanral regarding the sandbank. Plans are underway,” answered a spokesperson of the Merafong City Local Municipality. Mr Dikkie Beukes of the Gauteng Roads Department said he would speak to their engineers to find out whether such sandbanks could be built. A spokesman of the national roads agency Sanral, Mr Lwando Mahlasela, also promised to look into the matter. Lekhabane’s family confirmed that he would be buried at Zastron in the Free State on Saturday.
