Daily Sun (August 11 2014) - IT WAS already a sad day for family members on their way to fetch the body of a loved one. But they would never get to their destination.
DEATH IN THE SHAPE OF A SPEEDING BAKKIE WAS CHARGING TOWARDS THEM.
Soon the mangled bodies of eight people would be scattered on the side of the D401 between Dwaarsloop and Thulamahashe, Mpumalanga.
"I could see the bakkie had failed to make the bend," said John Siwela (43) of Thulamahashe, near Bushbuckridge, who witnessed the crash between a Mahindra Bolero bakkie and a Toyota Verso.
"The Verso driver tried to avoid the Mahindra, but he couldn't. The two vehicles crashed head-on," John said. The convoy of four cars was on its way to meet a hearse carrying Enios Makukule's body at about 4.30pm on Saturday for burial the next day. The body was being transported from Nelspruit via Dwaarsloop to New Forest.
As the leading Verso, with six occupants, neared a bend in the road, a Mahindra Bolero coming from the other direction crossed from its lane at high speed.
Eight people, four in each vehicle, died at the scene. Both drivers also died.
An ambulance was called and one accident victim was rushed to Thulamahashe Health Centre as desperate family members tried to rescue those trapped in the vehicles. A local fire team later rescued them and they are recovering at Mapulaneng Hospital in Bushbuckridge.
Enios' uncle, Fickson Mathebula (58), said everyone at home was shocked when they heard four more family members had lost their lives.
Paseka Masinga (35), the driver of the Mahindra, was seen drinking with his friends shortly before the accident. Samuel Masinga (54), Paseka's father, said
Paseka's brother, who had been drinking with them the whole day, refused to get into the car. "He warned them not to drive as they were all drunk but they wouldn't listen," Samuel said.
He said Paseka's mother had died only a few months before. Colonel John Ngwenya confirmed eight male passengers were killed and five others are still fighting for their lives in hospital. "A case of culpable homicide has been opened," he said.
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