It is seldom that an accident causing thousands of rands’ damage is resolved amicably.
This happened on Wednesday morning at an accident scene in Eduan Park.
All the parties just “have what it takes”: one is a builder and the other a panel beater. The panel beater’s bakkie went through the builder’s wall.
Guido de Marre came home last night from Tzaneen. About two blocks from his home, around 00:15 he collided with a perimeter wall surrounding Sakkie Maree’s property situated on the corner of Snyman and Bayman Streets.
He arrived at home around 03:00, and went to sleep.
When his wife Vanessa woke up yesterday morning she found her husband had a huge bump on his bed and his leg was injured.
“I felt so bad for not having seen it when he came in last night, but I was sleepy and just went back to sleep.”
She is the owner of a panel beating, spray painting and auto body repairs business in Polokwane. She said Guido was confused and disorientated when he woke up, but he told her he thought he collided with somebody’s wall, and that it could not be “too far away”, because he walked home. Vanessa and her daughter then went looking for the bakkie. She said she thought Guido fell asleep while driving, as it was very late already when he returned from Tzaneen.
When finding the bakkie she came face to face with the homeowner whose wall was damaged. Sakkie Maree good-naturedly told her he was not opening a case, as long as the damage to his wall was repaired. He offered Vanessa coffee and returned the items he recovered from the bakkie. He said she could get quotations from other builders, but he was sure that he could repair the wall for less.
“I was sure the owner of the bakkie would return,” Sakkie said.
“But just in case somebody thought about looking around in the bakkie for something to scavenge I salvaged the items belonging to the owner and took them inside my home for safe-keeping. I probably would also have run away.
Sakkie said he thought at first it was an earthquake that hit the area when he was woken up by the sound of the bakkie hitting the wall, but he soon saw what had happened.
Vanessa took Guido to the hospital to check for injuries he might have sustained, but he was discharged later.
“I am just so happy that there wasn’t more damage and that the vehicle standing behind the wall was not too damaged either.
“And I am so happy that Guido was not seriously injured. He has to be watched for symptoms of concussion but he is okay. His leg just sustained a few scratches.”
