DURBAN - A pastor and a woman died when two cars collided on Old Main Road in the vicinity of Woodview Park in Phoenix on New Year’s Day.
Reaction Unit South Africa spokesperson Prem Balram alleged that a red Nissan Sentra travelling in the direction of Phoenix Highway veered into oncoming traffic, where it ploughed into the side of a white Toyota Quantum before colliding head-on with a white VW Polo.
Balram said the driver of the Sentra died in hospital. The back-seat passenger in the Polo, a woman, died of her injuries at the scene just after 2pm despite the valiant efforts of paramedics to stabilise her. Her six-year-old daughter suffered moderate injuries. The driver of the Polo was also injured in the collision.
The deceased were identified as Fiona Chetty, a Phoenix resident, and Siva Dharmalingam, a pastor. Both families declined to speak to the media.
On Facebook, users claimed the pastor had experienced a heart attack which caused him to lose control of the vehicle. Others blamed the crash on the poor state of the road surface, which had many potholes.
Democratic Liberal Congress leader Patrick Pillay expressed his condolences to the bereaved families and prayed for their strength during this period.
Pillay said it was very unfortunate that the provincial department had neglected to rehabilitate the R102, which was riddled with potholes and was a very dangerous stretch of road to travel.
“This road is consistently heavy on traffic, and road users are continuously avoiding these potholes to protect their vehicles from damage. Unfortunately, the inefficiencies of government in repairing these roads have resulted in the sad loss of lives.”
Pillay recalled that four years ago the Department of Transport spent millions of rands on rehabilitating the road. Pillay said the shoddy workmanship and the inferior materials used to resurface the road had meant that it had not been effectively repaired.
Pillay said taxpayers deserved better in terms of service delivery.
Daily News