Transporter blames police for horrific Swazi crash

A Swazi-based transport company has blamed the police and not its driver for a serious accident involving one of its trucks. Chrisilda Transport made the assertion at a Swazi government commission of inquiry assembled by Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini to look into the causes of an April 29 accident on Malagwane Hill east of Mbabane in which three people died and 23 vehicles were destroyed. One of the dead was a Chrisilda Transport driver, Wilson Magagula. The fatal chain of events began when another truck hauling iron ore for Salgaocar mining operations in Ngwenya experienced mechanical failure, including loss of brakes and gears while descending a steep switchback section of highway. The driver, Sikhumbuzo Mkhonta, failed to stop the truck, on which he had had only two days’ training, and jumped through the window. The horse and trailer proceeded 800 metres before overturning, blocking both lanes and shutting down access to the capital from the east and south of the country. Minutes later, the Chrisilda Transport truck drove into the stalled traffic from above, setting them alight before overturning. Only one police officer was present to handle the massive traffic jam after the first truck had overturned. Vehicles were backed up the curving hillside where the danger ahead could not be seen by approaching traffic. “Looking at the distance between the steep rise and where the traffic was, it would have been difficult for any driver to brake on time. The distance was very short and the (Chrisilda) truck has 18 gears which need to be de-accelerated before it can stop,” the transport supervisor for Chrisilda Transport, Freedom Simelane, told the commission. He blamed police for failing to make the accident scene secure. Motorists, including the Prime Minister’s press secretary, attempted to direct traffic in the absence of police after the Salgaocar truck had overturned. They witnessed the Chrisilda Transport truck striking cars before overturning. “Wilson won the best driver award for 2012, best fuel consumption and best truck handler awards. He was also more experienced (than other drivers),” Simelane told the commission. He said police should have positioned warning cones on the hill above the traffic control. Simelane testified that Chrisilda Transport was also a victim of the accident, having lost a prized employee. He said police were sending relatives of crash victims to the company for compensation, even though the cause of the accident was still under investigation. CAPTION The horrific crash scene in which three people died and 23 vehicles were destroyed.