A case of culpable homicide is being investigated after a 35-year-old man died on the R21 freeway in Kempton Park after he was hit by a Ford Ranger and he succumbed to his injuries.
Lieutenant Colonel Kelebogile Thepa, spokesperson for the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) said the pedestrian was certified dead on the scene.
“The Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department’s freeway patrol unit officers responded to a crash on the R21 freeway direction south, between R23/Benoni on-ramp and the Pomona off-ramp, in Kempton Park area, where a 35-year-old male pedestrian, succumbed to his injuries, after he was knocked over by a light delivery vehicle,” said Thepa.
“On arrival, officers found the motionless body covered in a space blanket, occupying the middle lane, next to the damaged white Ford Ranger light delivery vehicle. The medical expert on site, declared the pedestrian dead on the scene.”
Thepa said the man who was driving the Ford Ranger, was travelling alone in the vehicle, and did not sustain any visible injuries from the crash. He was, however, treated for shock by paramedics on site.
“A case of culpable homicide, was registered at the Kempton Park police station where further investigations will be conducted because currently, we are not sure what actually happened before the accident/crash,” she said.
Earlier this year, while releasing the Easter Road Safety statistics, Minister of Transport Sindisiwe Chikunga said pedestrians contribute to the high number of travellers killed on South Africa’s road network.
“The high number of road users who perished on our roads are pedestrians, who accounted for 44.4% of all fatalities, followed by passengers at 27.7%. Drivers accounted for 25.6%; cyclists at 1.3% while the road user status of 1% could not be determined,” Chikunga said.
“The highest number of pedestrians died in collisions in the Western Cape, Limpopo, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.”
IOL