Gautrain bus driver hits car on Monument Road and drives off
The driver of the bus now claims he was not in the wrong
BIRCHLEIGH businessman Kabelo Sekwati is frustrated after his vehicle was hit by a Gautrain bus on July 16 on Monument Road.
Damages to his car have still not been fixed.
The driver of the bus now claims he was not in the wrong.
“At the time the accident happened I was driving down Monument Road. The Gautrain bus changed lanes and hit my car. My car swerved out of control from the impact but I managed to stop it. The bus driver stopped in front of my car and I went to him and he agreed he had hit my car,” explained Sekwati.
“I called the metro police to the scene and after 10 minutes of waiting for them to arrive, the bus driver told me his boss said he must leave to pick up passengers. I couldn’t believe that he left me just like that,” pointed out Sekwati.
Sekwati took pictures of the damage to his Renault Modus as well as of the bus and registration number before the driver left.
There were supposedly two eyewitnesses.
“When the metro police arrived, they asked where the other car was. I told them the bus left and they said they couldn’t write a statement but that I would have to open a case at the police station. I went and filled in an accident report,” said Sekwati.
He claimed he had gone to the Gautrain head office and the company was giving him grief, sending him from pillar to post.
“I have been speaking to a woman called Melanie. She told me I must get two quotations, which I did. I then called her and asked for her email address so I could email her the quotations and pictures of my car and the Gautrain bus. She told me there was no need because the driver of the bus said it was I who was wrong,” an upset Sekwati explained.
“I hung up the phone because I was so angry.”
Sekwati said he then went to the small claims court where he was told he couldn’t be assisted in a case against the state because it’s the same company. He was advised to get his own lawyer.
EXPRESS contacted Gautrain spokesman Melanie Putter who said she had no comment.
When EXPRESS mentioned Sekwati’s name, however, she pointed out that she did know about the matter and that he was being assisted. She then went on to add that it was best for people to have their own car insurance.
Sekwati said Putter had since told him that she sent all the relevant documentation to the claims department but could not forward him a copy of the email.
