Blue light stalwart mourned
MEC's office confirms vehicle was one of the cars assigned to Sihle Zikalala
A CRASH involving a blue light brigade vehicle ended in tragedy late on Thursday night.
Bongani Maduna died when the bakkie he and a colleague were travelling in left the road, overturned and crashed into a tree next to the N2 near the eNseleni River Bridge at around 11pm.
Maduna was the main driver of Sihle Zikalala, MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs and Leader of Government Business.
Zikalala and his entourage were returning from a provincial government engagement in the uMkhanyakude District as part of a schools opening oversight programme.
Maduna, in the back-up vehicle for Zikalala, was seated in the front passenger seat and was trapped inside the wreckage of the bakkie.
According to the Office of the Premier, in a press release on Saturday, the SAPS indicate that slippery road conditions played a factor in the fatal crash.
Paramedics who arrived on the scene worked hard to save the life of the driver, Sgt Kwenu Mabaso, who is reportedly in a stable condition.
Saddened
Zikalala described Maduna as ‘a dedicated employee who executed his duties with excellence at all times’.
‘We are extremely shocked and saddened by the untimely passing of Mr Maduna,’ Zikalala said.
‘Over the many years that we worked together, we had grown to be like brothers.
‘As colleagues within the department, we stand with the Maduna family and friends during this trying time.
‘This loss is felt very deeply, in particular by Maduna’s children and the wife whom he married recently. Maduna had also just bought a home.
‘No amount of words can express our deepest sympathies to the family for the pain and irreparable loss of a husband, a son and an uncle and a source of love that united the Maduna family.’
‘We will maintain close contact and provide the necessary support to the family as it makes the final arrangements for laying Mr Maduna to rest,’ he concluded.
The ANC Youth League also sent condolences to his family, adding that Maduna was also known as a martial arts trainer and long distance runner.
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