Chabane’s final warning
Minister’s caution about road accidents in his final public address Arrested truck driver was over alcohol limit
THE driver of the lorry which collided with the car in which Public Service and Administration Minister Collins Chabane was travelling was allegedly drunk.
The lorry’s disc had also expired on December 31, making it unroadworthy.
A police officer who attended the scene told Sowetan that tests done on the driver of the lorry indicated he was drunk.
“Upon arresting the driver of the lorry, we conducted [breathalyser] tests on him and it [the result] came out as 0.08%, which is above the legal limit,” said the officer who did not want to be named for fear of jeopardising his job.
The legal limit in the country is 0.02%, and no one is allowed to drive after exceeding it.
The man was arrested and charged with three counts of culpable homicide, one count of negligent driving and another of driving under the influence of alcohol, according to the police source.
Chabane, his driver and bodyguard died yesterday in the early hours of the morning on the N1 South between Polokwane and Mokopane.
They were travelling in a VW Touareg when they rammed into the lorry which was making an illegal U-turn on the highway.
The driver of the lorry was slightly injured and he was arrested on the scene.
Sowetan visited the accident scene yesterday and found only pieces of the car scattered all over the road – which was closed for most of the day – where only Chabane family members and relatives, journalists, police and traffic officers were allowed to view the scene.
The minister’s son, Percy, arrived with three other men, believed to be relatives.
They were all unable to contain themselves as they cried hysterically on seeing the accident scene and the wreck of the car in which Chabane was travelling.
The driver of the car in which Chabane was travelling was identified as Lesiba Sekele, while his bodyguard was identified as Lawrence Lentsoane, both aged 45 and working for the police’s VIP protec- tion unit.
Limpopo police spokeswoman Lieutenant-Colonel Ronel Otto confirmed that blood samples had been taken from the driver of the lorry.
She said whether or not the driver was under the influence of alcohol would form part of their investigations.
Otto said the driver was expected to appear in the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court tomorrow.