Cape Town - The Franschhoek community converged on the local sports centre on Tuesday night to honour the memory of two club rugby players and a supporter who died in a bus crash on the Franschhoek Pass at the weekend.
Players Russel Riffel, 23, Denzil Boonzaaier, 19, and 62-year-old supporter Adam Leibrandt died in the crash, in which two cyclists and at least 26 other people were injured.
On Saturday the driver of the vehicle carrying the players and the rest of the Franschhoek rugby side to a friendly match against Grabouw swerved to avoid the cyclists, causing it to overturn. Police are still investigating.
“This is a very dark time for us as a community and you can see by the turnout here tonight that it is really a tragedy. Whenever this team plays, the entire valley is empty because they are all at the games.
“Rugby is the priority sport here in this community and all three of the lives that were lost will be sorely missed by everyone associated with the community and the club,” said Grant Cloete, chairman of the Franschhoek Sports Council.
Relatives
of the three victims attended t he memorial, alongside Western Province Rugby Union (WPRU) president Thelo Wakefield and SA Rugby Union executive council member Tobie Titus.
“This community has really showed that they are a community of love by showing their support for the loss of their loved ones.
“It is also very heart-warming to see so many members from the surrounding rugby clubs have come here to show their respects,” said Wakefield.
Wakefield, Titus and provincial sports minister Anton Bredal all spoke at the memorial as family and friends wept.
Following the accident, WPRU started a fund to help support the families of everybody affected by the accident.
Money was raised for the fund during the Stormers Super Rugby victory over the Sharks at Newlands last weekend, and the union will continue to raise funds at this weekend’s match when they host New Zealand side the Waikato Chiefs.
The funerals of Boonzaaier, Riffel and Leibrandt will be held at various churches on Saturday as the bereaved families seek closure.
Cape Argus