Construction on the Gonubie Main Road came to a standstill yesterday morning when a concrete mixer truck reversed into a female worker, killing her instantly.
The deceased has been identified as 54-year-old Nokuzola Magaqa from Ducats. Magaqa worked as a flag lady on the Main Road upgrades.
The incident, which left fellow workers traumatised, happened just before 9am on the construction lane that goes into Gonubie, just a few metres from the Basil Read site office, police said.
East London police spokeswoman Warrant-Officer Hazel Mqala said a worker was apparently directing the driver to an area to off-load when the incident happened.
“It’s not clear whether the deceased was directing traffic or busy with something else when the truck reversed into her.”
A case of culpable homicide has been opened.
Dynamic Emergency Medical Service spokesman Rudy Robson said Magaqa was declared dead on the scene.
He said they were alerted just after 9am and when paramedics arrived they found her lying behind the concrete mixer truck.
“Advanced life support techniques were administered. Unfortunately, she was declared dead by paramedics,” he said.
When the Dispatch arrived around mid-morning, the scene had been cleared.
Construction workers were walking home, saying they had been told to go home after the incident.
At the Basil Read site office, the Dispatch was referred to the site manager, who said he was unable to comment on the incident and would only be able to do so once an internal investigation had been concluded.
Work on the R150-million Buffalo City Metro (BCM) road-widening project started about three years ago after it was commissioned in 2004.
The initial completion date for the project was December last year.
However, the project has been marred by a number of delays including weather, construction and technical delays, and a land-ownership dispute between a group of residents and BCM.
In June, during his maiden state of the metro address, BCM mayor Alfred Mtsi apologised for the delays and said the deadline for completion was now December this year.
It was not clear yesterday when work would resume. — arethal@dispatch.co.za
Reversing truck kills flag lady on Gonubie road
The deceased has been identified as 54-year-old Nokuzola Magaqa from Ducats. Magaqa worked as a flag lady on the Main Road upgrades.
The incident, which left fellow workers traumatised, happened just before 9am on the construction lane that goes into Gonubie, just a few metres from the Basil Read site office, police said.
East London police spokeswoman Warrant-Officer Hazel Mqala said a worker was apparently directing the driver to an area to off-load when the incident happened.
“It’s not clear whether the deceased was directing traffic or busy with something else when the truck reversed into her.”
A case of culpable homicide has been opened.
Dynamic Emergency Medical Service spokesman Rudy Robson said Magaqa was declared dead on the scene.
He said they were alerted just after 9am and when paramedics arrived they found her lying behind the concrete mixer truck.
“Advanced life support techniques were administered. Unfortunately, she was declared dead by paramedics,” he said.
When the Dispatch arrived around mid-morning, the scene had been cleared.
Construction workers were walking home, saying they had been told to go home after the incident.
At the Basil Read site office, the Dispatch was referred to the site manager, who said he was unable to comment on the incident and would only be able to do so once an internal investigation had been concluded.
Work on the R150-million Buffalo City Metro (BCM) road-widening project started about three years ago after it was commissioned in 2004.
The initial completion date for the project was December last year.
However, the project has been marred by a number of delays including weather, construction and technical delays, and a land-ownership dispute between a group of residents and BCM.
In June, during his maiden state of the metro address, BCM mayor Alfred Mtsi apologised for the delays and said the deadline for completion was now December this year.
It was not clear yesterday when work would resume. — arethal@dispatch.co.za
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