Church mourns Brackenham crash victim

CONGREGATION members were left shocked and saddened by the death of a Brackenham mother, who was killed in a car accident on Thursday night, shortly after leaving a church meeting in Richards Bay.

Buhle Tshabalala (30) was declared dead at the scene after the vehicle she was travelling in collided with a truck on the North Central Arterial at the Brackenham robot intersection before 8pm.

Her husband and child (3) escaped with minor injuries and a 24-year-old entrapped passenger had to be extricated and is in a stable yet critical condition in hospital.

Church members rushed to the accident scene within minutes of the crash and began interceding in prayer for the occupants.

Minister of Christ Apostolic Church, Pastor Samuel Omuro said Buhle would be dearly missed and he was confident she was ‘now in the hands of God’.

‘This sister lived a good life and before her death she was in the presence of the Lord and then went to be in His physical presence.

‘I had prepared for the service but we were led to keep worshipping and this is what the church did.

‘She was worshipping God, sincerely pouring her heart out to Him and this prepared her, giving us peace and rest.

‘This is a big loss for the church. Buhle was faithful and committed and we thank God that her husband and child are doing well and our sister, who is in a stable condition, is improving,’ he said.

Meanwhile, Richards Bay SAPS spokesperson Captain Debbie Ferreira confirmed that a case of culpable homicide was being investigated.

Zululanders turned to the ZO Facebook page on Friday to express their grief and called for stricter control for defaulting truck drivers.

‘This is very sad and surprisingly accidents like these always involve trucks. They should make a separate line for trucks only. Trucks are much bigger than our normal cars so they drive like they own the road because they know nothing can happen to them,’ said Avril Snyman.

‘Too many people have lost their lives because truck drivers do not care and do what they want and traffic cops do not even stop them when they break the law right in front of them,’ Sean Smith said.