Teens killed in crash
AN AFTERNOON outing to Lake Merthley near Greytown ended tragically for four young friends when the vehicle in which they were travelling left the road and slammed into trees at the weekend.
Nivesh Loknat, 18, and Mahomed Hoosen Saib, 17, both Grade 10 pupils at Greytown Secondary, died after being flung out of the back passenger seat of the vehicle.
The single vehicle accident happened on Saturday.
Their friends, student Divikar Garrib, 20, who was driving, and Farah Abdul Rashid, 17, also a pupil at Greytown Secondary, escaped with injuries, and have been discharged from hospital.
A traffic website, described the friends as travelling on the R74 towards Lake Merthley when their vehicle swerved off the road into a plantation.
The vehicle slammed into two trees, which fell on to the vehicle.
Nivesh’s father, Vinesh Loknat, said he was still coming to terms with his son’s death.
“I spoke to Nivesh an hour before the accident. He told me he was going to be at home, but when his friends came to see him he decided otherwise. Lake Merthley was a popular place for young people to socialise.”
Loknat said his older son had received a call from one of Nivesh’s friends informing them of the accident.
“We could not believe he is gone. My son just celebrated his 18 birthday and a few weeks ago he told me he wanted to follow in his cousin’s footsteps and become a road traffic officer when he matriculated.”
He described Nivesh as a quiet boy who loved to play soccer.
Mahomed’s heartbroken mother, Nafisa Saib, described her son as someone with a heart of gold.
“On the day of the incident I came home from work and Mahomed was home. He wanted something to eat and then he went outside to see his friends. (Later) … we received the news that he was involved in an accident and died. We miss him so much.
“Having people around for support helps ease the pain. But there are times when we break down.”
Greytown police are investigating a case of culpable homicide.