A Mitchells Plain family thought they had been hit by an earthquake when a car ploughed into their home in the early hours yesterday.
April Engelbrecht, 62, has appealed for traffic authorities to clamp down on speeders along Spine Road in Mitchells Plain, after the alleged drag racing accident.
Passengers Yaseem Isaacs, 20, and Fazlin May, 32, were killed after the car crashed through the Engelbrechts’ garage wall in Cave Close, Eastridge, said provincial police spokesman November Filander.
“I heard a loud bang and thought: ‘It’s an earthquake!’ My wife said it sounded like bricks falling. We ran outside and there were lots of people who had come out to check what happened,” said Engelbrecht.
His wife Catherine, 57, immediately feared their youngest son, Brandon, 22, was involved in the accident.
She heard a voice shouting “Papa, Papa!”
“We immediately worried that it was my baby boy who had crashed.”
At about 5am, the Engelbrechts and their eldest son, Nigel, 29, were at home when the car slammed into a Telkom box. It knocked off the right rear-view mirror of Engelbrechts’ car before ramming through his garage wall.
The centre of the garage’s boundary wall was demolished while large concrete blocks, which appeared to have smashed through the windows, could be seen on the seats of his minibus taxi parked inside.
Traces of blood were visible on the ground next to the pavement and on the road. Engelbrecht said this was where the two victims had landed after being flung out of the vehicle.
Filander said the driver of the blue Volkswagen Polo had allegedly lost control of the car. A case of culpable homicide would be investigated as well as allegations that the incident was linked to drag racing.
The 25-year-old driver and another male passenger, aged 22, had minor injuries and had been taken to Groote Schuur Hospital, he added.
Isaac’s sister, Anuska, declined to talk about the tragedy and has advised family and friends of the victims to refrain from engaging with the media.
May’s mother, who wished to remain unnamed, said her daughter had been a “good person”. She said her daughter left a husband and two children.
Both victims were buried yesterday according to Muslim rites.
Engelbrecht said Spine Road had become a “death road”.
“Within 12 months, six people have now been killed on this road... We need higher visibility by the traffic authorities, and cameras.”
He added that the road was also a “hot spot” for muggings and even pupils were robbed.
Mitchells Plain cluster community police board chairman Michael Jacobs agreed that Spine Road was a major “crash point” for fatal accidents.
“We’ve been asking for proper traffic to be deployed… There’s only a roadblock once a month or every two months,” he said.
Anyone with information has been asked to call Warrant Officer Robert Hendricks at 073 677 8908 or Crime Stop at 086 001 0111. - Cape Argus