POLOKWANE – After the accident, a tow truck driver from Emergency Towing was called by a client to tow away his car. When he arrived on the scene, there were already two other tow truck drivers on the scene which led to a dispute about who was going to tow the vehicle.
Review spoke to André Horn, owner of Emergency Towing, about what happened. “We have a protocol that all requests to have vehicles towed have to go through our office. This means the client phones our office after which we send a driver to the scene. We did not receive any request on the day in question to send a driver to the location of the accident. We only became aware of the incident when we were contacted by one of the other tow truck drivers who asked us to please get our driver off the scene as he was causing a ruckus,” Horn said.
Horn said he called his driver who was clearly upset and swearing in the background. “I asked my employee to leave the scene after which he started an argument with me. I told him if he wanted to behave like a hooligan he could no longer work for me to which he said he would return my truck and other equipment to the office and leave our employ. After our phone conversation, an apparent physical altercation broke out between the drivers.” The employee from Emergency Towing claimed he was stabbed during the altercation.
Review spoke to the other tow truck drivers, who wanted to remain anonymous due to fear of victimisation, and they said there was no stabbing incident during the altercation.
“We have a good history with Emergency Towing and there has never been any serious altercations between us. It often happens that regardless which towing company is on the scene first, the client or his insurance wants a certain company to tow the vehicle. We then come up with a peaceful and friendly solution between the tow truck drivers,” said one of the drivers.
Review spoke to various other tow truck companies about the standard procedure followed by tow truck drivers at an accident scene. They said the standard procedure followed at an accident scene is that whichever towing company arrives on the scene first, gets the business. That might change if the client or the client’s insurance company prefers another company to tow the vehicle.
According to Westenburg Police Spokesperson, Const Maphure Manamela, no case was opened regarding the incident or the alleged stabbing.
maretha@nmgroup.co.za
