Nobody will ever be able to explain how the five taxi occupants survived, when the driver of their vehicle lost control, hit several poles and stopped about 300 metres away in the mealie fields, next to a river bank last Thursday.

Poles went through the rear of the vehicle and passed through to the back, causing injuries to the driver and his passengers, who were rushed to the hospital shortly after the accident.

The shocked taxi driver, Kuvhanganani Nemukula, who sustained injuries to the leg, hands and chest, explains the horrible incident with difficulty while lying in the ambulance: "I was driving from Tshilamba to Thohoyandou with a few passengers. When I approached the traffic lights at Tusk Venda, the brakes of my taxi failed. I pressed the pedal again for the second time but the vehicle could not stop. I could smell trouble and I had to do my best to stop the taxi. I swerved to avoid the oncoming traffic but it went straight to the poles erected to protect Tusk’s flower garden. It hit the poles and some of them forced their way through the front of the vehicle. Miraculously, the taxi took a turn towards the University of Venda road and I was swerving with all my might, to avoid hitting other vehicle."

Kuvhanganani said the taxi continued to move while his passengers were screaming because of the injuries they had sustained from the poles. "I felt that my legs were injured and there was a big pole that came between my legs, but I continued steering the taxi to safety. After a long struggle, the taxi went into the mealie fields, hit a fence and a shrub and came to rest near the riverbank. Everyone who came says they have never witnessed such an accident where people survived."

When Mirror arrived at the scene, paramedics were attending to the passengers who had suffered broken legs. One of the injured, Irene Managa from Mbahela village, said she could not remember exactly what happened. "I only thank God that I still survive, although I sustained leg injuries. I only remember when the driver told us the brakes were failing and thereafter, I closed my eyes and prayed until the taxi stopped here."