5 die, 15 critically injured after bakkie overturns near Tzaneen

Pretoria – Five people were killed and 15 others critically injured after a bakkie they were travelling in overturned between Lephephane and Kujwane outside Tzaneen in Limpopo on Saturday.

Provincial Transport and Community Safety Department spokesperson Mike Maringa said the driver of the vehicle lost control after a tyre burst. The bakkie then overturned.

He said: “Five people were certified dead at the scene. The injured were rushed to the nearest hospital. The driver is among the 13 people who escaped with minor injuries. Two others are in a critical state.”

This brings the number of people who were killed on the province’s roads to 11 over the weekend. The other two died on Sunday night.

Two more people died on the Roodepoort turn towards Leboakgomo in Capricorn District after the driver of a sedan lost control and hit a tree. Two people died and one who was critically injured was rushed to hospital,” Maringa said.

On Saturday on the R530 next to Mokhoma abattoir near Phalaborwa, also in Mopani, a car overturned after losing control. The driver died. The passenger was rushed to hospital.

Also on Saturday in Vhembe District, on the R521, two vehicles collided and two people were killed.

Maringa also said: “In Sekhukhune on Friday on the R579, next to Sephuma Village outside Burgersfort, a person died instantly after being hit by a minibus taxi.”

Transport and Community Safety MEC Mavhungu Lerule-Ramakhanya yesterday sent messages of condolence to the families of the victims. “We caution motorists who continue to drive at high speeds which in most instances lead to fatal accidents. I have also noted that most of the accidents reported over the past weekend happened during curfew hours. We are going to arrest those who are found to be on the streets without permits during curfew hours,” she said.

Car accidents have been rife in Limpopo recently. In April five people were killed in two separate collisions in one night. In the first incident, drivers of two cars and two of their passengers died when their vehicles collided on the D856 road near Philadelphia in the Sekhukhune district.

In the second incident, a driver died when his vehicle collided with another car on the R81 outside Giyani.