A man was crushed to death after apparently attempting to stop a car rolling down a hill at the Table Mountain National Park parking lot in Vredehoek on Saturday.
Netcare 911 spokesman Jeffrey Wicks said Kiki Juma, 33, originally from Malawi, had suffered multiple injuries and died at the scene. His body had been found jammed between the car and a tree.
“We received the call at around 10am on Saturday. It appears the man had attempted to stop the car, a Mercedes Vito, from rolling down the hill,” said Wicks.
On Sunday, Juma’s friends Gloria Chitedze and Yvonne Nkhata cried as they laid bouquets under the tree where his body was found.
Chitedze said she had learned about the “freak accident” on Facebook.
“I went on to Kiki’s Facebook profile yesterday morning and someone posted a message on his wall saying, ‘Kiki has died in an accident. Would his family members please contact me.’
“The person left a mobile number and I called immediately. None of his friends or family members know who this person was.”
She added that Juma had not owned a car. He had worked as a driver.
“There are so many unanswered questions. We just need to know who was with him, what happened and who the person was who posted that message on Facebook.
“It feels terrible to have to say goodbye to our sweet, fun-loving friend, while we don’t know how he died.”
Friends said Juma was an “intelligent man” who would have jumped in and tried to stop the car because the hill was not very steep.
Police spokesman Frederick van Wyk said the incident was not reported to police.
SANParks spokeswoman Merle Collins was not available for comment on Sunday.
Cape Times