Durban - A FAMILY of four and two young friends, returning from church on Sunday, died in a collision with a water tanker in Empangeni.
Roderick Petersen, 43, a maths teacher at Empangeni High School, died with his wife, Ronelle, 40, a clerk at a local hospital, and their two children, Josh, 11, and Amy, 6.
They had given a lift to two children – 8-year-old Silakhokonke Magwaza and his 11-year-old sister, Phiwokhuhle – who also died.
Their distraught mother, Sthembile Magwaza, was last night being comforted by pastors.
The accident happened at 11.45am after the Open Door Assembly church service in Richards Bay. Weeping congregants gathered at the scene to mourn the family.
The family’s VW Jetta hit the water tanker head-on on the N2 at Honey Farm.
Petersen was last year given the Best Maths Teacher 2012 award by Uthungulu District Municipality.
Pastor Joe Rorke said the couple also had an older daughter, Bianca, 25, who had returned from Durban after hearing the news.
The assistant pastor at Eshowe, Nathan Pottier, said, “They were a loving family, committed to the work of God.”
He said he and congregants drove to the scene of the accident from Eshowe. “They were removing the bodies. We were all in shock, we were in tears,” he said.
Police said the driver of the truck, who was not injured and had not been named, had told them that a tyre on the vehicle had burst and he had lost control of the vehicle.
The tanker belongs to a private contractor and was delivering water in the rural area of Kwambonambi.
“Six cases of culpable homicide are being investigated,” said Empangeni police spokesman, Captain Mbongeni Mdalose.
Honey Farm owner Brett McMurray said he and his family had returned home just before noon, and had seen the accident scene.
“It was a horrendous scene,” said McMurray. “I saw five bodies on the side of the road; it seems as if they were thrown out of the car. The car was totally obliterated.”
The car and the truck were on the same side of the road. “The truck seems to have come across the road towards oncoming traffic. After hitting the car, it veered off the road and into my plantation,” he said.
McMurray said that stretch of road was in good condition, but there was a sharp curve at that point.
“There was an identical accident in the same place, one night about a year ago, when a car was involved in a head-on with a fuel tanker, and the crashed vehicles ended up in exactly the same position as the two in this accident,” he said.
To add to the drama, he said, a tow truck caught alight at the scene and the fire brigade had to be called to put out the fire.
Transport MEC, Willies Mchunu, voiced his concern about the accident, and said his department would continue with law-enforcement operations which started during the October Transport Month and would be ramped up as the festive season drew closer.
“Since we relaunched Operation Phezu’ kwabo, which is our enforcement campaign in October, we have suspended many heavy vehicles (mainly trucks) which were not in a roadworthy condition,” he said.
“We will continue to intensify traffic police visibility while engaging with all stakeholders to own up and prioritise safety on our roads.
Daily News