One death too many

ALIVE and working one moment, lifeless the next after his official vehicle hurtled into a turning truck in the dead of night on the N1 highway near Polokwane. The sudden, tragic end of Public Service and Administration Minister Collins Chabane, 54, in the early hours of Sunday drove home the point that death is part of life.

All are vulnerable, no matter their station or circumstances.

Whether or not we accept this, death by trauma remains a devastating emotional punch, especially for loved ones and associates.

In the case of a cabinet minister, it ripples much further – particularly in the case of one respected by opponent and ally alike.

Chabane, ironically returning to Pretoria from the funeral of a comrade, was considered humble, accessible and fair by those with whom he had dealings.

He was regarded as one of the government’s best.

The death of a government leader again draws attention to South Africa’s dismal road safety record.

Unfairly, it overshadowed the deaths of the two police sergeants in the SUV with him, but it served as a sharp reminder of our poor driving habits.

How, for instance, could a truck be doing a U-turn on a high-speed highway after midnight? Who trained the driver? Did he have any tuition or sense of anticipation and hazards?

CHABANE’S sad death highlighted a painful statistic that we seem incapable of shedding: more than 1 200 people die on our roads every month.

So far, the government, law enforcement agencies, and NGOs’ multiple campaigns have not been able to brake this toll.

With the anguish of this loss comes the economic cost of our abysmal road conduct: hundreds of billions of rand.

“You have just completed the safe part of your journey,” airline pilots are fond of saying on landing. “Now take care of the dangerous part as you drive home.”

Out of the blue, Chabane’s fate supports this.