The driver of an ill-fated Intercape bus, which killed nine Zimbabweans on the spot following an accident near Polokwane last Friday, was yesterday nabbed by South African police while attempting to skip the border by hiding in a trailer of another bus.
By Rex Mphisa
The driver, whose name police are withholding until he appears in court, was taken to Westernburg, along with the 51 injured passengers, but sought to escape when he heard that police were keen to interview him.
“Westernburg police have arrested the driver of the bus involved in this horrific accident. He tried to cross the border into Zimbabwe after he was taken to hospital with other 51 injured passengers for medical treatment,” South African Police Services (Saps) Limpopo Province section head of communications Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe said in Press release yesterday.
“As the process of intensive investigations by the police was unfolding, especially on the possible cause of that accident, he then disappeared following his discharge from hospital and fled towards the Beitbridge port of entry.”
Ngoepe said police were tipped-off about his whereabouts and the driver was found hiding inside a trailer, trying to cross the border into Zimbabwe illegally.
“The suspect driver will appear before the Polokwane Magistrate’s Courts (today) September 25, 2018 on nine counts of culpable homicide and on the possible additional charges at a later stage,” Ngoepe said.
The bus driver’s arrest follows the accident which occurred along the N1 South road in the early hours of last Friday when he lost control and the bus overturned while on the way to Gauteng.
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Police are yet to release names of the deceased.
