Durban — Several KwaZulu-Natal families are in mourning after 12 people died when a bakkie allegedly ploughed into a minibus taxi and a police vehicle on the R617 near Mpophomeni.
By Sunday the driver of the bakkie had not been charged by police.
Acting Transport and Community Safety MEC Jomo Sibiya said that the man was being detained by police for blood tests and for due processes to be followed.
It is alleged that the driver fled the scene. Police phoned him after getting his contact details from his car. He then came to the Mpophomeni SAPS. Sibiya said the law would take its course.
A witness who had been with those travelling in the taxi, Njabulo Hlongwane, said they had travelled from Umlazi W Section to Mpendle where there had been an unveiling ceremony.
According to reports, a passenger in the minibus taxi allegedly climbed out of the window while it was in motion. The taxi had 11 people in it, including the driver.
Two of the taxi’s occupants got out to check on the man on the ground. Sibiya said that while police officers and security officials were on scene, some of the passengers were leaning against the road’s crash barriers when a bakkie ploughed into them.
Initially, the death toll had been 11 but another victim died in hospital on Sunday. The family members of the dead gathered at a community hall were they were addressed by Mpophomeni station commander Sibusiso Mchunu.
Among those who died was a 15-year-old high school pupil, and Mpophomeni SAPS member Sergeant Sizwe Madondo, 37.
Jomo said that the affected families were the Nxumalo, Gumede, Cele, Radebe and Hlangisa families.
Hlongwane added that the owner of the taxi had taken them all along to his family’s unveiling in Mpendle. Hlongwane said the 11 occupants of the taxi were his friends. He said they had been “drinking” along the way inside the taxi.
He did not know how his friend exited through the window.
Meanwhile, KwaZulu-Natal Emergency Medical Services spokesperson Robert McKenzie said there were several serious crashes on the province's roads on Saturday night.
McKenzie said the other crash was on the N11, involving three vehicles.
“Tragically, six people sustained serious injuries in that crash and the remote road remained closed for several hours,” McKenzie said.
The exact circumstances resulting in these crashes are not known and will be investigated by the police, he said.
Police had not commented on the two crashes by the time of publication.
Daily News