Johannesburg - A motorcyclist has been critically injured after his bike apparently hit a metal memorial cross lying on Wilgerood Road near Ouklip, west of Johannesburg, paramedics said on Sunday.
"Paramedics from ER24 and other services arrived on the scene and found the man, believed to be in his 50s, lying in the road with his bike wedged up against the embankment," said ER24 spokesperson Werner Vermaak in a statement.
"He was in a critical condition and had to be stabilised by the paramedics on the scene before he could be rushed off to a nearby hospital for further medical management."
He said, according to bystanders on the scene, the man apparently crashed into a metal cross that was lying in the middle of the road.
One bystander told paramedics the cross was planted on the side of the road as a remembrance to a previous death that took place in the area.
The bystander told paramedics that it appeared someone had deliberately ripped the cross from the side of the road and threw it onto the road.
Johannesburg metro police Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said memorials on the sides of roads were accepted as long as they did not contravene any bylaw, and posed no danger to the public and motorists.
"As long as the cross [or memorial] does not contravene a bylaw... is not an obstruction or hindrance, as long as the cross is not a danger for the public then there is not a problem," he said.