The police in the Mopani area have arrested a 21-year-old-man and charged him with culpable homicide. This follows an incident that occurred along the Mphagane to Mamaranga road last Thursday evening at about 19:00.

Supt Moatshe Ngoepe, the spokesperson for the police in the area, said that a man was on his way to Mamaranga when the incident occurred. Along the way, he saw two women who were standing alongside the road. One of the women signalled to driver that they were desperate and that they were asking for a lift. The suspect sympathized with the women and stopped for them.

The women jumped onto the back of the bakkie before the driver pulled off. One of the women allegedly told the suspect through the window that they were going to alight at the nearby bus stop. It is alleged that the suspect did not get the message clearly.

That resulted in his driving past the bus stop at which they were supposed to alight. Realizing that the driver had passed their destination, the women jumped off the speeding bakkie. They were seriously injured and were taken to the nearby Nkhensani Hospital for medical treatment.

One of the women, Khensani Mathebula (25), was certified dead on arrival at the hospital. The other victim, Tsakani Mbalati (21), was reportedly still in a critical but stable condition in hospital at the time of going to press. The driver was arrested on Monday this week. He was still to appear in the Giyani Magistrate’s Court at the time of going to press.