It seems that someone can be held responsible for the cause of this horrific truck collision on August 15, during which a grain truck left the road and plowed through two HOP houses in Rose Valley.
According to Tom Terblanche, managing director of Grain Carriers, to whom the truck belonged, it was captured on camera how people along the road threw stones at the driver of the truck.
The blow left him unconscious after which he lost control of the truck. He died of his injuries on Saturday 17 August.
The video was handed over to the police.
“Unfortunately, we could not identify the person who threw the object, but we could clearly see that he was on the left. Because the incident happened in the night hours, it is difficult to make out who it is from the footage.”
According to him, the information completely changes the responsibility towards the parties involved.
“We helped both families who lost their homes. We did it out of compassion for the families without being guilty of any damage.”
The company described Hadebe’s death as a great loss. The truck was written off and they lost a total loss of 2.1 tons of product that fell off the truck during the collision.
Oudtshoorn police confirmed to him that the dossier had been changed to culpable homicide.
When asked about the issue, Southern Cape police spokesperson, Sgt. Christopher Spies, confirms that a case of manslaughter has been opened after the death of Hadebe and is still being investigated.
“The dossier will be referred to the National Prosecution Authority after the completion of the police investigation.
Damaged property
Two properties were badly damaged and left uninhabitable after the colllision. Apart from the two houses, the one home owner’s car was also damaged. To date, it does not appear whether any repair work has begun on the two houses in Riemvasmaak.
The municipality responded as follows: Aurelia Mle, spokesperson for the Oudtshoorn municipality states in a press release that the municipality understands the impact the collision had on the home owners.
“However, it must be emphasized that the onus falls on the trucking company and the company and home owners must work together to clarify repairs and compensation between themselves. The municipality is here to support the community, within our mandate and we encourage the home owners to reaching out to the trucking company.”