A weekend of death

Few things are as traumatic as getting a phone-call about a loved one who died in an accident. For many families this was the case as about six culpable homicides were reported over the recent weekend.

The deadly weekend started off with a serious accident on Friday, September 25. At about 22:00 a Toyota Quantum and a Toyota Avanza were involved in a head-on collision that took the life of one of the passengers and left many more seriously injured. The taxi that was carrying several passengers was travelling towards eMalahleni when it collided with the other vehicle travelling towards Ga-Nala. The passenger in the Avanza passed away on the scene and emergency personnel spent over an hour freeing the trapped passengers from the taxi. One by one they were taken to hospital.

Emergency personnel trying to free the trapped driver after the incident on September 25 on the Bethal road.

An inquest was also opened on September 26 when the police were called out to a scene on the Verena Road. A single vehicle had overturned next to the road. The cause of the accident is unknown as no other vehicles were involved. The driver was critically injured and taken to Witbank Hospital where he passed away later the same evening.
On Sunday, September 27 three more culpable homicides were reported. They all occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning such as an accident on the N4 Mandela Street off-ramp. The collision occurred at about 0:55.
A single vehicle crashed on the off ramp. The driver was allegedly under the influence and had his child in the vehicle with him who died in the incident.

Later the same day at about 03:00 a body was found on the N4 with a Toyota Tazz standing abandoned nearby. Authorities opened a case of culpable homicide as the victim appeared to have been run over and the driver of the Tazz fled the scene.

On Monday morning as people were making their way to work a pedestrian was knocked down on the N4 highway near the OR Tambo on-ramp towards Middelburg. The driver of a Land Rover knocked down a pedestrian crossing the highway.
The pedestrian died on the scene and has not yet been identified. The busy road caused the traffic to be backed up on the N4 as people slowed down to look at the scene.

One of the passengers of the taxi being loaded into the ambulance after the incident on September 26.

According to AA South Africa pedestrians are not allowed to cross a highway. They explain the terms of the National Road Traffic Act 93 of 1996, Regulation 323. “No person is allowed on the freeway on foot. There are however three exceptions to this rule, but only three. The first exception applies if you are within an area reserved for the stopping or parking of vehicles, indicated by an appropriate road traffic sign. The second is if there is a cause beyond a person’s control – such as if your car breaks down or you are involved in an accident on the highway. The third and final exception is if you are performing service,” Explained the AA press statement from their website.

A culpable homicide case will always go to court where justice will be dealt accordingly.