Car guard killed by truck in Dullstroom

Cape Town - A car guard has died after being hit by a municipal truck in the main street of popular Mpumalanga tourist town Dullstroom.

Riette O'Grady, the owner of Charlie C's restaurant in the town, said a municipal tipper truck apparently tried to overtake a vehicle which was about to park on Hugenoten Street at about 11:00 on Monday morning. The driver saw an oncoming vehicle and swerved back into his lane, hitting the pavement and the car guard.

"The truck driver was travelling too fast... if you look at the skid marks, you can clearly see the driver was at fault," she added.

The car guard went under the truck's wheel and appeared to have died instantly.

The Dullstroom man, who has not yet been officially named by police, had worked as a car guard for "a long time" and was well known in the area, O'Grady said.

Shock

"Everyone was very shocked and teary. Some of his family were at the scene and were very upset."

Another Dullstroom resident, who did not want to be named, said the truck's licence had expired in October last year. He added that it was the second time in six years that such an accident had happened involving a municipal vehicle.

Emakhazeni Municipality technical manager Lucas Sindane told News24 he could not confirm whether the licence had expired, and that this would be investigated.

Sindane was at the scene shortly after the incident, and will compile a report for the municipality.

He visited the family of the victim, and said his report will recommend providing assistance to his family. "They are obviously distraught," he added.

The driver of the truck was not injured but was traumatised by the incident, Sindane said.