More eyewitnesses claim to have seen Gavin Watson’s ‘massive speed’ crash

Two people claiming to be eyewitnesses to the fatal crash that claimed the life of Bosasa CEO Gavin Watson have approached News24 to give their account of what happened.

On Monday, Watson slammed the company car he was driving, a Toyota Corolla, into a concrete pillar adjacent to the road leading to the drop-off zones at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg.

He was declared dead on the scene.

The two eyewitnesses, who wished to remain anonymous, said they saw the car in the early hours of the morning – just after 05:00.

One witness said he saw the car on the side of the highway with its hazards on, waiting to turn back onto the road.

Once Watson had made it onto the road, he started accelerating and passed the witness at a high speed.

The witness said as they approached the road to the airport’s drop-off zones, the Toyota collided with the pillar on the road just below them.

“The vehicle collided with the pillar of a bridge at a speed that was definitely above 100km/h because of the nature of the impact and noise thereafter.

“The car, after the collision, instantly faced sideways and was [smoking] but we could not go check because of my flight time,” the witness said.

Another witness gave a similar account, saying he was on his way to the airport to drop off his aunt, approaching from the Boksburg side of the highway.

The witness said the crash was at a “massive speed”.

When the car approached the bend before the concrete pillar, it did not slow down. The witness heard no tyres screeching on the road, just a loud bang on impact.

“I thought that something was going to happen because he was going straight and the road was making a turn. The next moment I heard a massive bang.

“I dropped off my aunt and turned back around again to go back to the scene to see what’s going on, and the ambulance was already on the scene,” the witness said.

He added that, at the time, he suspected the driver had had a heart attack, blacked out, or did it on purpose because the pillar and the bend in the road was hard to miss.

He said he intended to report his account to the police.

National police spokesperson Brigadier Vish Naidoo has encouraged eyewitnesses to come forward with any information they may have.

“We look for eyewitnesses in any accident or crime, or whatever the case may be. We always encourage this,” he said.

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