Mother of ‘Midrand 5’ victim spearheads road safety campaign

Mashudu Mills, the founder of the ‘Midrand 5, Share and Save a Life’ campaign focuses on creating road safety awareness for athletes, pedestrians and other road users.

Mills said, “On 12 October my daughter, Given Mills, and her four friends were running on Lever Road in Midrand to prepare for the Soweto Marathon. The five young ladies were run over by a motorist driving under the influence of alcohol. My daughter and her friends died on the spot, a sixth victim was hospitalised for a very long time.”

Mills added, “I started the ‘Midrand 5′ campaign, with the emotional support of families of other victims, in February 2012. The campaign was started after numerous meetings with various entities including the government, various sports codes, the Office of the Minister of Roads and Transport, the Minister of Sport and Recreation, the office of the MEC of Roads and Transport and the United Nations Agency.”

Mills said, “Through the campaign I was invited to the International Union of Public Transport to speak about road safety. I was also invited to the Congress for Transport and Safety in Nasrec. The campaign aims to have an entity that will represent the voices of all people whose deaths are caused by road accidents. The most painful thing about my experience is that the man who killed my daughter and her friends offered each family a settlement of R500 000. We declined the offer because nothing will bring our loved ones back. Changing peoples’ mindsets over road use will go further in saving lives. Money will not stop road deaths. I am currently in talks with the land owner of where my daughter died, to get permission to put a stone where the incident took place.”

The only survivor of the accident, Khanyi Stengile, ran a 5km race in June in Soshanguve in memory of the victims of the road accident. “I have done a year of physiotherapy. I hope to run again as a representative of the campaign – a longer marathon in memory of the ‘Midrand 5’.”