Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula says the report into the crash that killed family members of Transport Deputy Minister, Sindisiwe Chikunga, is yet to be released.
The crash claimed the lives of Chikunga’s eldest son, his wife and their four children on Sunday evening on the N11 outside Ladysmith in KwaZulu-Natal.
On Tuesday, Mbalula accompanied the family to the scene and also to the State mortuary where their bodies were identified.
The eldest son of Chikunga was travelling with his wife and four children when they all perished in a head-on collision. The family was travelling to Durban from Mpumalanga as the school holidays had come to an end.
Family spokesperson Sthembiso Ndaba says the family is devastated.
“We end up crying if we mention the name of Khulekani and his wife as well as the siblings, it’s shocking and today they are supposed to be at school, unfortunately, we left them at the mortuary. My family members were not going to make it, the injuries that are there, you can see that the reckless driving and impatience were the results of the accident, because according to the analysis the driver of the Ford Ranger was on the wrong side of the road.”
Human error suspected
The Transport Minister says a human error is suspected since it was a head-on collision.
Mbalula says, “Now we can’t pass judgment here about what happened. It is a head-on collision. It is very clear that it is human error. What caused that human error is drunkenness, is it tiredness, or what the investigation will reveal. We take this opportunity to call upon motorists on the road to drive responsibly.”
Mbalula updates on the crash that claimed 6 lives:
#sabcnews #sabckzn Religious leaders are part of the support at the mortuary in Ladysmith where Dep Transport Min Sindisiwe Chikunga is identifying remains of her six family members who died in a crash on Sunday night. pic.twitter.com/9s8GY3bxQh
— Nonkululeko Hlophe (@Leko3) July 19, 2022
