A 44- year-old taxi driver appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on charges of culpable homicide and driving under the influence of alcohol after a woman was tragically killed in Wynberg.
The case was postponed to Monday December 5, for a formal bail application.
“It is unconfirmed whether the suspect has a criminal record; we are still waiting for his prints to come back but the detective investigating the matter will be opposing bail,” said Wynberg police spokesperson, Captain Silvino Davids.
A 45-year-old Mufuleni woman who was in the vicinity was knocked over by the taxi driver on Friday October 7.
The mother of five, three of which are under the age of 18, is suspected to have been on her way home or busy shopping before she lost her life to a reckless driver.
The taxi driver was allegedly speeding towards Wynberg when he jumped a red robot and tried to avoid another vehicle, believed to be an e-hailing taxi, making a U-turn in the road. The suspect swerved in the other direction onto the pavement where he hit a cement pillar that struck the victim. He then drove into the clothing shop front at 124 Main Road. The suspect was arrested on the scene for drunk driving.
“Wynberg Fire Station crew responded to the motor vehicle accident and arrived on scene at 12.26pm. Crew members commenced CPR to resuscitate the female patient. She was declared dead at 12.45pm,” said the City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue spokesperson, Jermaine Carelse.
A dark stain remains on the pavement in front of the clothing store where paramedics found the victim’s body lying.
The store owner told the Bulletin that there had been a similar incident previously. According to the store owner, a taxi driver lost control of their vehicle and drove into the front of the store two years ago. At that time there were no fatalities.
