BUFFALO City Metro (BCM) firefighter and single mom Nonkonzo Hazel Ngxambuza was killed on Sunday soon after 8pm when her official Toyota Land Cruiser suddenly veered off the slow lane on the N2 and rolled.
In a statement, BCM said the vehicle, known as BT8, had a blow-out.
However, municipal sources close to the issue questioned why the rear axle of BT8 had snapped off and why it was fitted with two different tyres.
The Dispatch checked with an East London tyre franchise, who checked with a manufacturer and was told that a 800mm diameter knobbly 7.50 R16 tyre, similar to the one photographed on the left wheel of the snapped axle, would be 2.1cm higher than the 779mm diameter 265/75/16 fat tyre similar to the tyre fitted on axle’s right wheel.
Different factors come into play, such as tyre pressure, but the owner said they would never fit a knobbly and a smooth tyre together.
“We don’t do things like that,” he said.
At the Ngxambuza home, her cousin Nomakasphe Nogudla described the fallen firefighter as friendly, trusty, child-loving and a leader in the household who, amid great celebration, bought a Nissan bakkie last year and drove the family around with great caution, never driving too fast.
“It did not have a scratch on it,” said her firefighter colleague Mziwoxolo Buti, who started with her on the same day in 2005.
“She saved my life many times,” he said, while another firefighter colleague and close friend, Boniswa Luka, who is eight months’ pregnant, wept quietly at the family home for a friend who died on her birthday. — mikel@dispatch.co.za
BCM firefighter killed in crash
In a statement, BCM said the vehicle, known as BT8, had a blow-out.
However, municipal sources close to the issue questioned why the rear axle of BT8 had snapped off and why it was fitted with two different tyres.
The Dispatch checked with an East London tyre franchise, who checked with a manufacturer and was told that a 800mm diameter knobbly 7.50 R16 tyre, similar to the one photographed on the left wheel of the snapped axle, would be 2.1cm higher than the 779mm diameter 265/75/16 fat tyre similar to the tyre fitted on axle’s right wheel.
Different factors come into play, such as tyre pressure, but the owner said they would never fit a knobbly and a smooth tyre together.
“We don’t do things like that,” he said.
At the Ngxambuza home, her cousin Nomakasphe Nogudla described the fallen firefighter as friendly, trusty, child-loving and a leader in the household who, amid great celebration, bought a Nissan bakkie last year and drove the family around with great caution, never driving too fast.
“It did not have a scratch on it,” said her firefighter colleague Mziwoxolo Buti, who started with her on the same day in 2005.
“She saved my life many times,” he said, while another firefighter colleague and close friend, Boniswa Luka, who is eight months’ pregnant, wept quietly at the family home for a friend who died on her birthday. — mikel@dispatch.co.za
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