Kaapsehoop Road remains close as emergency services attempt to remove cement truck
The Kaapsehoop Road is still closed after a cement truck overturned on the winding parts earlier this morning.
The truck was allegedly on its way from Kaapsehoop and was transporting fly ash (one of the materials used to create cement) to Mozambique when the accident occurred.
Reports from the scene indicate that the cement truck’s brakes failed while driving down a steep section of the road.
Emergency services on the scene said it appeared that the driver had steered the truck into the bank on the roadside to avoid going over the barrier on the other side and rolling down the steep hill.
Van Wettens Breakdown Service said it would be using two trucks to remove the cement transporter off the road, as the container was still mostly filled with fly ash and heavy.
The removal process was initially expected to take an hour or longer; however, at 13:00, the road was still closed due to difficulties encountered in safely removing the truck.
The emergency services said they expected it to be a busy day as the N4 had been closed due to an accident and many trucks were now using the Kaapsehoop Road as their main route.
Commenting on Lowvelder‘s Facebook page, warning users of the road closure, Mzweshi Mabalane posted, “By the looks of things, the truck had brake failure. It shows the exceptional excellent skills the driver had; he just drove to a slope to get it down before it could do damage.”
Another Facebook user, Annetjie Rautenbach, commented, “That road is dangerous now and slippery from all the oil mixed with water daily travelling up and down. Oil stays on the surface; with all this rain it is dangerous.”
Ruby Wilson commented, “I saw the truck driving past Kaapsehoop this morning. He was driving slowly. Thankfully the driver is okay.”
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