KwaZulu-Natal Member of the Provincial Legislature and Minority Front leader Shameen Rajbansi’s son and daughter-in-law were killed in the horror road crash near Mariannhill Toll Plaza on the N3 eastbound to Durban on Tuesday.
KZN Legislature speaker, Nontembeko Boyce, confirmed in a statement that member Rajbansi’s son, Pradhil Rajbansi, and his wife Priyanka Nunkumar were among the three people killed in the crash that involved at least two trucks.
“It is with deep sadness that we share the news of the tragic passing away of Mr Pradhil Thakur-Rajbansi and Ms Priyanka Nunkumar - son and daughter-in-law of Honourable S Thakur- Rajbansi,” Boyce said.
“They both passed on in a horrific multiple-vehicle collision which occurred on the N3 near the Mariannhill Toll Plaza. We request that we keep Hon Thakur-Rajbansi and her family in our thoughts and prayers during this time of grief,” Boyce said.
KZN MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, Sipho Hlomuka, said he had learned with dismay about the multiple-vehicle pile-up involving several trucks and cars that brought traffic to a standstill for more than five hours on Tuesday.
“Preliminary reports have revealed that 15 vehicles were involved in a pile-up accident which involved an assortment of heavy motor vehicles and light motor vehicles on the N3. Sadly, three fatalities occurred and five people were injured and rushed to Mediclinic and Hillcrest hospital for medical attention,” Hlomuka said.
“It is saddening to hear of this accident. Yet again, heavy vehicles are found in the middle of a major accident weeks after the tragic accident that claimed the lives of 18 schoolchildren in Pongola. We had also just concluded the programmes of October Transport Month where we focused our efforts on road safety awareness, yet our messages seem to have fallen on deaf ears,” he said.
At this stage of the investigation the facts were “still minimal” but it was hoped that a full report would indicate what had happened, Hlomuka added.
“We know that as government ours is to ensure safer roads for all motor users, however road safety remains everyone’s responsibility and each of us needs to also adhere to the basic rules of the road. We also extend our deepest condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones and a speedy recovery to those who have sustained injuries,” Hlomuka said.
He added that the government would continue to engage the owners of heavy motor vehicles “in an effort to find amicable solutions to road safety”.
