Death struggle

Date: 27 February 2015 By: Isabel Venter

Trapped under the crushing weight of his truck’s cabin, a man’s futile cries for help could be heard over the shouts and whirr of firemen and their equipment trying to free him.

But despite all their effort to free him, the man sadly passed away hours after the accident – still trapped in his truck’s cabin.

“When you write this story, tell people about our struggle,” said one fireman to the Zoutpansberger while he wiped the sweat from his brow. He was referring to outdated and dilapidated equipment with which they have to try and rescue people.

The accident occurred along the N1 north, opposite the entrance of the Cloud’s End Hotel, on Friday evening (20th). The exact cause of the accident is still being investigated by the police, but, according to eyewitnesses, it would seem that the deceased driver was returning to Johannesburg when he lost control of his vehicle down the Soutpansberg mountain pass. The truck veered off the road and overturned, pinning the driver underneath the vehicle.

Firemen from the Makhado Fire Station were quick to arrive on the scene, but after nearly three hours, they could still not free the man. At the end of their resources' capabilities, the firemen called in the assistance of San Souci’s Louis Trichardt towing truck to lift up the wrecked cabin. At that stage, the firemen were also still waiting for back-up vehicles they had to request from the Musina Fire Station.

Apart from the firemen’s struggle with their equipment, they also had to accept help from community members who stopped at the scene and helped out with lighting. “How can they [the firemen] be expected to do their job with such old equipment?” remarked more than one eyewitness.

Following the accident, the newspaper approached the Makhado Fire Station in a quest for answers.

According to the station manager, Mr Jack Ramalatso, the driver was supposed to be recovered from the wreck within 30 minutes, in terms of their rules and regulations. Part of the problem, he explained, was how the budget allocated to his station was administrated. The local station falls under the purview of the Vhembe Local Municipality, which is supposed to allocate a certain amount to the station for repairs and maintenance. Getting money paid from this budget to have repairs done is a lengthy process.

Furthermore, during November and December last year, the Vhembe Municipality took away all the back-up rescue vehicles that were stationed at the station. These were allocated to the newly built station at Vuwani.

Ever since then, the Vhembe Municipality was supposed to supply Makhado’s station with new vehicles because, explained Ramalatso, in terms of the law, every station must have back-up vehicles.

The newspaper was able to determine that the Vhembe Municipality had budgeted R6,2 million for this purpose. This budget will be used only for the purchasing of new recovery vehicles, which have to be parcelled out to the various stations in the district. Makhado Municipality will receive one, which is a hard-terrain bakkie that will also still need to be outfitted with the necessary equipment. Vehicles are purchased at prices ranging between R480 000 and R500 000 each.

The spokesperson of the VDM, Mr Ralushai Matodzi, was approached for comment on the situation and budget allocated to the Makhado Fire Station on Monday. By Wednesday, he acknowledged receipt of the newspaper's enquiry and promised to respond as soon as possible.

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Isabel Venter

Isabel joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in 2009 as a reporter. She holds a BA Degree in Communication Sciences from the University of South Africa. Her beat is mainly crime and court reporting.

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