The above two pictures were taken at the scene of a gruesome accident that occurred on the Main Durban- Johannesburg N3 highway in South Africa on Sunday November 4th at around 17h00. Driving pass the accident scene with my family, we witnessed a Black Corsa van split in half with the occupant of the vehicle, a young white man, dead. The occupants of the other vehicle, a Ford Fortuna 4x4 was a family of five. A mother, father and three kids. The kids and the mother came out without much injury. However, the driver of the vehicle despite talking, was bleeding profusely from his head and arms. His legs were stuck and it was possible that he had sustained a serious leg injury. He needed to be removed from the vehicle with the 'Jaws of Life". Dad usually doesn't stop at an accident scene. However, the families belongings were strewn across the road and dad felt that he needed to pick up their belongings and hand it over safely to the relatives. Now in South Africa what usually happens at the scene of an accident is theft. You would find people living in the surrounding areas along the road side would come to the accident scene and instead of helping the victims they would choose to steal their belongings? In a separate incident that occurred about a month ago in South Africa, a truck that was carrying meat products was involved in an accident in the Mpumalanga region. The African people from the town nearby came to the accident scene and virtually stole the entire truck load of meat.
The cause of the accident we witnessed was unknown to the police. However, they strongly point the unfortunate incident to alcohol. The man driving the Corsa van was possibly under the influence of alcohol as his breath and body were reeking of alcohol. There was also many small bottles of coke in his car.He was probably drinking the coke to shoot up his caffeine and concentration levels.
The shocking bit about the whole accident scene was that our national government ambulance service was not well equipped in dealing with this kind of trauma. The ambulance failed to have many life saving drips and drugs. The doctor on duty was forced to borrow and utilize medical equipment from the NETCARE ambulance that had arrived on the scene.
If you could ever find a group of dumb policemen the dumbest of them all were present at the scene of the accident. They did not know how to use the 'Jaws of Life" which resembles a giant pliers. With members of the public pitching in to help, finally they managed to use the device and free the driver who was trapped underneath the vehicle. With the nearest hospital 86km away in Bethlehem, it makes you wonder why doesn't the national emergency services have an airlifting service in transporting a patient quickly and efficiently especially in life threatening situations.With millions of rands squandered and stolen each day through corruption in seems to me that South Africa is slowly but surely regressing into a fully fledged third world country. It is simply a matter of time.Whilst President Jacob Zuma enjoys his life with his many wives and 20 or so kids many of whom are illegitimate, his nation and his citizens are suffering.My heart bleeds for South Africa. It is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful countries in the world. It has the best weather, the scenery is remarkable and the people are warm and kind. Africa should have been the superpower of the world. But then again because of greed which African president has ever succeeded in raising his nation to new heights??? Sadly folks the answer is NONE!!
