A Zimbabwean family is in mourning after a chain of road accidents near Bela-Bela, Limpopo, South Africa, left three relatives dead — including a mother and child who were hit by a vehicle belonging to Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi’s security detail.
South African authorities said the tragedy occurred on Saturday along the busy N1 highway.
Zimbabwean national Paul Masunda was allegedly hit and killed by a car driven by an off-duty member of the South African Police Service.
According to police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe, Masunda had just seen his wife, Beauty Shoperai, and their children off at a bus station before trying to cross the highway.
The couple’s 14-year-old child saw the collision and immediately called the mother, who rushed back towards the scene with another young child strapped to her back. Moments later, a second tragedy occurred.
Police said another vehicle linked to Minister Motsoaledi then struck the mother and child.
Authorities confirmed that a member of the minister’s Protection Security Services unit was driving at the time. Both the woman and the young child died at the scene.
The sequence of events has devastated relatives in Zimbabwe. The surviving teenager now faces the trauma of witnessing both parents and a sibling die within minutes.
Mathe said Motsoaledi, his close protection officer and the driver, stopped immediately after the crash and remained at the scene until emergency services and police arrived.
Police have opened two separate culpable homicide investigations.
More: The South African
Leave a Reply Cancel reply