Eight councillors from Sol Plaatje Municipality who participated in the municipal games in Mpumalanga last week were injured in a head-on collision near Christiana on the weekend.
EIGHT councillors from Sol Plaatje Municipality who participated in the municipal games in Mpumalanga last week were injured in a head-on collision near Christiana on the weekend.
The councillors were travelling back to Kimberley in a minivan.
A total of 160 Sol Plaatje employees and councillors took part in the municipal games in Mbombela, which came at an estimated cost of R1.5 million.
North West police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Amanda Funani said on Tuesday that the police were investigating two cases of culpable homicide after two people who were travelling in a Toyota Tazz died in the collision.
“It is suspected that the Toyota Tazz was travelling at a high speed when it collided head-on with a Kombi in which eight people were travelling. Both the driver and passenger who were travelling in the Toyota Tazz died on the scene. A bakkie that was travelling in the direction of Christiana crashed into the back of the Toyota Tazz after it had collided into the Kombi,” said Funani.
She added that four people who were travelling in the Kombi were admitted to various hospitals in Christiana, Klerksdorp and Kimberley while four other passengers were treated for minor injuries.
“The two people travelling in the bakkie sustained minor injuries.”
Funani stated that the Kombi was travelling from Mpumalanga to Kimberley while the Toyota Tazz and the bakkie were travelling in the opposite direction, towards Christiana.
“The deceased – the driver aged 40 and the passenger, 54, are both from Christiana.”
It is believed that the injured Sol Plaatje councillors have since been discharged from hospital.
