While December was relatively quiet with regard to road fatalities in the Soutpansberg area, the new year got off to a grim start with the death of four motorists over the past weekend.

According to the station commander of the Makhado Fire Brigade in Louis Trichardt, Mr Patrick Muswana, the station attended 56 accidents during the period of December 1 to 31. These left two people dead and 16 seriously injured.

On Saturday (8th), two people died, following a horrific crash involving a sedan and light delivery vehicle on the Thohoyandou/Levubu Road just outside of Louis Trichardt. One female passenger and the driver of the sedan were killed instantly. Another passenger in the backseat was seriously injured and was rushed to the local hospital. The male driver of the delivery vehicle managed to escape the wreck with a broken leg. His passenger, also male, sustained serious injuries and had to be taken to hospital for further treatment.

Police on the scene were, however, flabbergasted regarding the cause of the accident. According to Makhado SAPS commander Col Francois Ramovha, who was on the scene of the accident, it will not be an easy task to determine the cause of the accident. “We will have to investigate the matter further to determine what had happened here. We suspect that one of the vehicles tried to pass another vehicle and they collided head on with each other,” said Ramovha.

Rescue workers attending this accident scene had scarcely put away their gear when they were called away to yet another accident. This time on the Mailaskop Road near the Beja turnoff. One male tractor driver had died in a freak accident. According to Muswana, the tractor driver was on his way to plough a field when the accident happened. “We suspect that the tractor slipped when he was driving over a slippery hill,” said Muswana. The tractor capsized, trapping the driver inside the cab, crushing him to death.

On Sunday, the N1 north was yet again the scene of another crash, involving a fuel truck and a sedan. The accident happened about 36 km outside of Louis Trichardt, near Masequa Bricks. According to rescue workers on the scene, the female driver of the sedan, who was travelling north, tried to overtake another vehicle when she collided head-on with the fuel truck. Nearly the whole front side of the sedan was obliterated in the crash, killing the woman instantly.

The driver of the truck managed to escape relatively unharmed.

All three accidents are being investigated by the local police and cases of culpable homicide were opened.