A lead vehicle in a blue-light convoy was involved in an accident in the Joburg CBD after allegedly jumping a red traffic light yesterday afternoon.
Witnesses at the intersection of De Korte and Bertha streets in Braamfontein said they saw the black BMW drive through a red traffic light at speed.
The BMW struck a white Toyota Corolla belonging to the Department of Labour.
Witnesses said the BMW spun and hit a traffic light before coming to a stop in the centre of Bertha Street.
The drivers of both vehicles were taken to hospital. Their condition was unclear.
“He was travelling fast, as they (blue-light convoys) always do. The white car crossed over because it was green, and was hit by the BMW,” said Sihle Ncontombela, who watched the accident happen from a petrol station across the road.
NOTHING UNUSUAL
He and other petrol attendants said it was nothing unusual to see the convoys speed through intersections along Bertha Street.
The BMW also caused a trolley filled with paper for recycling to be tipped over. The trolley owner was unharmed but fled the scene.
This all happened just after 3pm. Witnesses said there were between five and 10 vehicles in the convoy and that they passed the accident scene without stopping.
It is usual security protocol for convoys not to stop at the scene of an accident.
Further up Bertha Street, close to Truworths, Wits students Nompumelelo Mnguni, Zamokuhle Mathebula and Lerato Phatela said they had just crossed the road when the black BMW sped past.
“We joked, we said there is going to be an accident if he continues driving like this,” said Mnguni. “Then it happened.”
Joburg metro police spokesman Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar confirmed the accident but could not say who was in the convoy.
“The cause will be investigated,” he said.
Shortly after the accident, metro police and the SAPS were on the scene.
PLATE REMOVED
When a photographer began taking photographs of the BMW, the number plate was removed.
Kate Lorimer, the DA’s spokeswoman on safety and security, slammed the occurrence of yet another blue-light-convoy-related accident, caused by jumping red traffic lights at high speed.
“Who makes their schedule more important than anyone else in South Africa?” said Lorimer, who added that the DA in Gauteng had been trying to get blue-light convoys banned.
The most notorious blue-light accident in Joburg involved pupil Thomas Ferreira, who sustained head injuries when a BMW driven by an SAPS VIP member struck him after it had jumped a red light. -The Star