Another car through the wall

During the day driving down the last kilometre, before OR Tambo Road joins with the R555, the patchwork of brick and cement walls are visible. Recently repaired sections are clearly distinguishable from the original sections. However at 20:00 on December 21, blue and red lights were seen flashing around the bakkie as it was being towed out of the resident’s back yard.

The woman who was driving the bakkie on December 21 at 20:00 came around the OR Tambo corner before reaching the R555. The home-owner, Mr Riaan de Jager, sat outside in his back yard, when the vehicle crashed through the back wall and drove over a tree in his yard.
The driver was seriously injured and taken to Life Cosmos Hospital by emergency services. Mr de Jager’s neighbours heard the loud crash and also came outside to see what was happening. They were shocked to see what happened, since a similar incident took place not too long ago where a vehicle also crashed through their back wall. Johan Oozthuizen said that it happened to them twice before the last time was December 2012 and it cost them thousands of rands to repair. The driver was not seriously injured. “The only way this is going to stop, is if they put up a stop street and speed bumps before somebody else loses their life,” said Mr Oosthuizen.

The residents of this stretch of road are concerned for their safety, as well as the safety of the drivers that use the road.
In 2012 a driver lost his life from driving through a brick wall on this stretch of road.

A spokesperson for the municipality Lebo Mofokeng said, ““that route is a driver fatigue route and I would like to warn the road users that the attitude towards the uphill and downhill route should be respected”. He goes on to say that individuals should be mindful of their speed and that the incidents are not necessarily caused by a lack of speed humps or a stop street.