A 51-year-old professor from the University of Venda (Univen) died in a vehicle accident on Thursday, 28 May.

The accident took place about 15km outside Louis Trichardt on the Levubu Road on Thursday evening.

Prof. Titus Misi was travelling home from Thohoyandou to Polokwane in his sedan. He apparently attempted to overtake a vehicle in front of him on a solid line. While overtaking, however, he collided head-on with an approaching police bus.

Misi’s vehicle spun out of control, coming to a standstill next to the road. He was killed instantly. Rescue workers had to use the “Jaws of Life” to remove his body from the wreck of his vehicle.

Following the collision, the police bus capsized and ended up on its roof. The driver, Insp. Tefo, sustained minor injuries and was released from hospital on Monday.

Both drivers, from the sedan and bus, where alone in their vehicles.

Prof. Misi’s wife, who is a nurse at the provincial hospital in Polokwane, started to get anxious when her husband did not return home and phoned all the police stations on Friday, but to no avail.

On Saturday, she decided to open a missing person’s report at the Polokwane police station. It was only on Monday that somebody, who had been at the accident scene, realized that the missing professor might be the man who had passed away in the crash. Ms Misi travelled to Louis Trichardt on Tuesday and confirmed that it was indeed her husband who had died in the accident.

Prof. Misi, who came from Malawi, worked for many years at Univen’s Department of Statistics at the school of mathematics and natural sciences.

A case of culpable homicide is being investigated by the police.