Road carnage claims 14 lives in Eastern Cape

Fourteen people died while scores were injured and treated in a spate of accidents on Eastern Cape roads at the weekend.

Provincial health spokesman Sizwe Kupelo, who said some accidents were caused by fatigue and drunk driving said:

• Three people died on the R58 near Lady Grey on Saturday and four were rushed to hospital with minor injuries.
• Three people died when the minibus they were travelling in overturned and was hit by a Translux bus outside Aberdeen. Eleven passengers were taken to Beaufort West Hospital.
• One person died in Mqanduli when a bakkie carrying five passengers overturned near Upper Ngqwarha. Four people were taken to Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital in Mthatha and treated for minor injuries.
• A minibus taxi overturned multiple times, killing three on the N2 near Hankey. Thirteen people in a critical condition were airlifted to Livingstone Hospital in Port Elizabeth and six were treated for minor injuries.
• Late yesterday afternoon two people died on the road between Centane and Butterworth and two others were rushed to hospital.
• In an ocean drama, 80 students mostly in their 20s from Nelson Mandela University, were caught up in what the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) called a “mass non-fatal drowning” incident at Cape Recife beach on Saturday. The students were taking part in a monthly hike from Humewood, Port Elizabeth, to Cape Recife. Some went for a swim off the remote beach and a number got into difficulty, said NSRI Port Elizabeth duty controller Ryan Meyer.

He said three men were washed out 300 metres into the sea and were struggling. Four men and a woman from the same group swam out to try and rescue them.

NSRI rescue swimmers found some students still clinging to rocks and attempting to assist each other.

“NSRI rescue swimmers Jean Roussouw and Steven van den Berg entered the water and were able to assist the casualties from the water,” said Meyer.

All the students were rescued. One man was airlifted to hospital and two men and a woman were transported to hospital by ambulance.

“They were all in a stable condition and expected to fully recover,” said Meyer.

lMeanwhile, Ayabonga Vumazonke, 32, has been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for murder after he stabbed Asive Msintsi in the chest following an alleged love triangle. Msintsi, 29, and Vumazonke’s girlfriend were enjoying intimacy in NU 3 Mdantsane when Vumazonke entered by kicking down the door. He stabbed Msintsi in the chest and fled the scene in February last year.

Msintsi was rushed to hospital by a neighbour but died. Mdantsane Police spokesman Captain Nkosikho Mzuku said the successful conviction was due to great police work. — mandilakhek@dispatch.co.za