An Mdantsane family who spent years waiting for an RDP house will have to start over again after a runaway construction truck smashed their home, narrowly missing six family members.
The four-room home in Unit P belongs to Norati Dyani and her seven children.
The midday accident, which saw two homes and a garden wall being demolished, was blamed on the truck’s gears and brakes failing.
The truck went 350m before crashing into the Dyani’s home.
The owner of the fully loaded yellow water tanker, Dwayne Geer, from Geer Construction, took full responsibility yesterday.
When the accident occurred Dyani was busy with her house chores while her four sons were in the lounge watching TV and her daughter was in the bedroom sleeping.
The tanker crashed into the kitchen and lounge.
It was thanks to a neighbour screaming at them to evacuate that the family managed to escape unharmed.
Dyani said: “The truck was crashing into the house as we were running to get outside. We were shaking with fear.”
Dyani’s daughter had to leap through an open window.
The moment she had recovered from the initial shock she went over to the driver to ask if he was okay.
“He began crying. He said he was fine and he disappeared. I did not see him again, the poor soul,” Dyani said.
The truck first took down the outside wall and part of the house of another resident, Khanyisa Jayiya, who was not home at the time.
Jayiya said: “My wall is gone, my lounge is gone. I cannot even start to estimate the damage because I have been told by the owner of the truck not to go inside the house as it is risky.”
Geer said he would find accommodation for the two families for the night.
He said assessors from his insurance company had visited the scene to see what could be done to make amends.
The truck was busy working on a road nearby.
“The water truck was on top of the hill when the driver was trying to turn around. He reversed onto this road. When he took the gear out of reverse, it would not go into first gear.
“The truck started to roll back. The driver put his foot on the brake. There were no brakes, so the truck rolled backwards down the hill and went over the pavement and through the wall, taking out the corner of the house, through the fence into that house at the bottom,” Geer said.
He said he was highly relieved no-one was injured. — zwangam@dispatch.co.za