Call to charge crash driver

Five men were killed in an accident on New Year’s Day, and their families now want to know why it happened

THE families of five men who died in a car crash on New Year’s Day want the driver of the vehicle in which they were travelling to be charged with culpable homicide.

Ishal Singh, Andile Mbatha and Tulane Radebe died at the scene. Ashley Andhee and Tizane Moodley died later in hospital.

The five men and the driver, a senior paramedic who was off-duty from IPSS, a private medical service company, were travelling in a medical emergency bakkie when he veered off the R74 highway in Kwadukuza at around 2am.

The paramedic, whose dog also died in the crash, has been recovering in hospital.

A month later, the families of the deceased claimed they were being kept in the dark about investigations. They alleged that police did not do an alcohol test on the paramedic.

Lalita Singh, Ishal’s aunt, has written a formal complaint to the SAPS, detailing their frustrations with the investigations, including the alleged lack of a blood sample at the scene and the fact that a case of culpable homicide was not opened.

IPSS spokesperson Paul Herbst said an internal disciplinary process was initiated. “We have established that the vehicle was not engaged in active duty at the time of the accident. IPSS does allow for off-duty use of company vehicles by certain staff echelons, under strict conditions.

“Most pertinently, the driving policy of IPSS explicitly requires all staff operating a company vehicle to adhere to the relevant rules and laws of the road at all times. Furthermore, there are strict standard operating procedures in place that apply to emergency response driving,” he said.

Shamila Andhee, Ashley’s mother, said her life had come to a standstill.

“It was just the three of us – Ashley, his dad and I. We’re in a lot of pain and we want to know the full details (of the crash) and information about the investigation.

“No one has told us anything, but we need to know – we can’t let this go,” she said.

Police would not confirm whether a case of culpable homicide was being investigated.

“We cannot comment further since the matter is still under investigation. We advise the family to visit the Kwadukuza station commander if they are not happy with the investigation,” said SAPS spokesperson Lieutenant-colonel Thulani Zwane.