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There’s a Springbok bus on my stoep! Trophy tour gate-crashes EC home
The Springbok RWC trophy tour ended with a bang when the victory bus unceremoniously crashed into a private property in Aliwal North.
The bus was on its way to Johannesburg after the Springboks concluded their trophy tour in East London on Sunday. Photo: Supplied
Completely offsides! The Boks’ Rugby World Cup victory was brought home for an elderly Aliwal North homeowner when the team’s trophy tour bus unexpectedly crashed through her fence and into her garden on Monday evening.
According to reports, the bus was on its way from East London to Johannesburg on Monday when its brakes failed shortly after 7pm.
Bok bus: Offsides, completely offsides…
If there is one South African who won’t forget the four-times champions’ victory tour in a hurry, chances are it’s the 74-year-old Vida Jordaan, who had some “gees” delivered straight to her doorstep.
Bok bus on a roll…
The bus’s brakes reportedly failed while it was approaching the T-junction on Somerset Street and Queens Terrace.
Luckily, no one was hurt during the ordeal. The driver, his assistant and a woman passenger who were on the bus, escaped unharmed.
The Springbok team and their families, however, had flown to Johannesburg after the last leg of their victory parade with the Web Ellis Cup in East London on Sunday.
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Bus driver lost control
Eastern Cape transport department spokesperson Unathi Binqose explained to News24 what happened:
“The driver lost control of the bus in wet and slippery conditions in Aliwal North and the road he was driving in was a downward kind of a slope. When he applied brakes, it skidded off the road and hit private poverty.”
Jordaan’s son, Pierre, told Netwerk24 that if it wasn’t for some large rocks placed on the pavement which slowed the bus down, the accident could have been “much worse”.
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SA Rugby denies Bok bus was towed to Joburg
SA Rugby denied the claim of tow truck driver Brian Heger that the bus had to be towed all the way to Johannesburg.
SA Rugby operations manager Yusuf Jackson told the publication that in its feedback, the bus company reported that no damage was sustained by the vehicle; nor was any person injured or hurt.
“To confirm, the bus safely made its way back to Johannesburg.”
The Boks’ tour started in Pretoria last Thursday and continued to Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, and East London after South Africa beat New Zealand 12-11 in a nail-biting World Cup final at the Stade de France, in Saint Denis, Paris.
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