Durban - A 23-year-old engineering student at UKZN has told how a telephone call brought devastating news about the death of his mother last week outside uShaka Marine World.
“I did not expect my mother to go first,” said Dustin Hayman, whose father, Jack, has for years had cancer. “That morning call changed our lives for ever. I feel a lot of pain for my sister, they shared a special bond,” he said.
Janet Hayman, 57, had been dropping off tourists who had stayed at the family’s bed and breakfast establishment. She had parked in the designated spot in front of uShaka’s entrance.
Her passengers had alighted, she switched off the engine and stepped out of the car to bid them farewell. A taxi struck her as she did so, dismembering her.
Dustin said his sister, who is completing her masters in marine geology and works in the office at uShaka Marine World, had not been at the office that day. “It is by stroke of luck that my sister was on a field trip to Sodwana.
She would have had a clear view of the accident,” said the engineering master’s student, who had rushed to the scene.
His 65-year-old father said: “I have depended on my wife to help me. What to do now: go to an old age home?”
“My family life is completely shattered. How can someone drive at 100km/h in a tourist drop-off zone? My children are too distraught… They relied on her for guidance. After nine years of being diagnosed with cancer I have accepted my fate. Seeing my wife’s body parts scattered everywhere was traumatic,” he said.
Witnesses told the family that the taxi, allegedly driven by Sakhile Welcome Sibiya, hit Hayman with such force that her body was ripped apart.
Police spokesman, Captain Thulane Zwane said: “The driver appeared in court this week. His case has been postponed to March 4 for further investigation.”
Sibiya faces a charge of murder.
Daily News