Cars rip through farm fence

Not only does Mr Jabu Campher have to deal with hunters and their dogs invading his farm, he also has the problem of vehicles crashing through his boundary fence.

Vehicles are known to come into town at high speed on the Bergville road and as they meet up with the Colenso road, they fail to make the turn and instead crash through the farm fence. This happens often, it seems.

Mr Campher says that a large number of motor vehicles have collided with the fence, ripping it right out of the ground. Then, in the wake of the accident, there is a huge opening through which cattle and other livestock can escape and wander out onto the busy road. This is dangerous in itself, as these roaming animals could cause yet another accident that could lead to serious injury or even death.

Mr Campher and his team are known to receive calls at odd hours of the night when breakdown companies try their best to stop animals getting out of the farm.Mr Campher then assembles a team and goes out to mend the fence that has been ripped apart. Many times in the past, Mr Campher has not been aware that damage has been caused to his boundary fence. This happens when a motorist crashes, doesn’t let police or RTI know and just drives off.

The South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) are responsible for fixing the fence when an accident takes place.

Road Routine Maintenance comes to fix the fence, but if there is an incident during the early hours of the morning, Mr Campher and his team take matters into their own hands because they cannot afford to wait until a road maintenance crew arrives. “We do our very best to keep the roads safe when the fence has been broken, and my team attends to matters as quickly as possible. This is a very concerning situation though, as you never know when another accident will happen or even if it will be reported so that the necessary action can be taken,” says Mr Campher.

For the latest news, visit our webpage or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.