Two women killed after garbage truck drove over them
The suspect supposedly fled the scene, but was stopped by a taxi driver that saw the whole incident that took place
The grim killing of two women has darkened the meaning of this year’s Women’s Month.
The silence on the scene where two women were allegedly driven over by a garbage truck on Thursday, August 19 had a mourning atmosphere over the community in Old Coronation.
Not only did two ladies lost their lives, but two babies, one of two months and one of six months old, are now without their mothers.
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According to numerous eyewitnesses on the scene, there is much more to what happened than just a hit-and-run by a municipal refuse truck driver.
On Monday, August 23, people residing in Old Coronation marched to Witbank Police Station to state their side of the case by handing over a memorandum regarding the suspect.
“I opened a case of assault, because look at my face, this is what that man did to me before he killed my sister and her friend. I am still in a lot of pain and my eyes are swollen, but I will not stop being the voice for the victims. The accused needs to be behind bars,” said Ms Bayitsepi Mthimunye that was allegedly assaulted by the suspect.
In a formal media statement from Witbank Police Station, the driver of the refuse truck from Emalahleni Local Municipality was on his way to drop a garbage load at the dumping site near Paxton.
“He was forced to stop the truck due to four pedestrians, one male and three females, crossing the road. The suspect climbed out of the truck and allegedly assaulted one female on the scene, where after the male intervened to stop the fight,” said the spokesperson of Witbank Police, Cpt Eddie Hall.
The suspect climbed back into the truck and allegedly tried to ram into the crowd of people, but did not succeed as the community members ran out of the way of the oncoming truck. Unfortunately, the rage of the truck driver did not stop there, as he continued and allegedly drove over two of the three ladies that he first had an encounter with.
The suspect supposedly fled the scene, but was stopped by a taxi driver that saw the whole incident that took place.
A police van that was travelling on this road stopped at the scene and the suspect alleged that his life is in danger as the community wants to kill him after he had an accident.
The SAPS vehicle escorted the suspect to Witbank Police Station, where he gave a statement. A case of culpable homicide was opened.
“The suspect was released the same day after the case was opened against him. Witbank Police Station detective services continued with their investigation and after obtaining witness statements decided to change the charge from culpable homicide to murder and assault to commit grievously bodily harm,” Cpt Hall added.
The 55-year-old suspect appeared in Witbank Magistrate’s Court on August 25 for two counts of murder and one count of assault to do grievously bodily harm.
“The incident that occurred was unintentional and unfortunate because the driver was driving to the landfill site at the time of the incident. We however would like to give the law enforcers time to do their best in dealing with the case. Our deepest condolences to the affected families,” Emalahleni municipal spokesperson, Mr Lebo Mofokeng, concluded.
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