Cape Town - A Woodstock woman is crying out for help after her mother was killed when a MyCiTi bus knocked her over in Table View more than a month ago, and is looking for members of the public who witnessed the incident to come forward.
“I can’t think straight. Her death left a hole in my heart. We miss her every day,” Sylvana Lasker told Weekend Argus this week.
She said Table View police were investigating the incident. Lasker said her mother, 45-year-old Amiena Easton, had been at Bayside Mall in Table View and was on her way to catch a taxi to her home in Brooklyn when the incident occurred.
She said a witness told her that Easton had several shopping bags in her hands as she crossed the road to catch a taxi to her home in Brooklyn.
However, she didn’t make it home and ended up at Groote Schuur Hospital instead. Six days later she died of her injuries.
Lasker said that she is desperate to get to the bottom of what happened.
“I’m in so much pain .... They say the pain gets easier, but it doesn’t. I only have memories now,” she said.
Lasker said she was grateful to Groote Schuur Hospital’s Trauma and Intensive Care units and also commended emergency medical personnel.
Easton’s sister, Celine Morris, told Weekend Argus that she was at the hospital while Easton was in a coma.
She said that she was frustrated because it was more than a month since her sister’s death and still there was no progress.
“She wasn’t just someone who was knocked over. She was loved. We are totally broken. There’s not a day that goes by when we don’t cry. We don’t have closure,” Morris said.
Mayoral committee member for transport Brett Herron said the City of Cape Town was aware of the incident.
“The vehicle operating company (VOC) that operates the MyCiTi buses on this route has been in regular contact with the family since this unfortunate accident and while the deceased was still in hospital. The city would once again like to relay our deepest sympathies to the family for their loss,” he said.
He said that, according to the VOC, two witnesses reported that Easton had been moving between slow moving traffic on Blaauwberg Road as she crossed the road and then stepped into the red lane, which is a dedicated right-of-way lane for the MyCiTi buses, in front of the bus.
“The driver could not stop in time,” he said, adding that the driver brought the bus to a halt immediately after Easton was knocked over.
Herron warned pedestrians, cyclists and motorists to stay out of the red lane.
“It is designed to give the MyCiTi buses a headway advantage. Just as one should not walk along a railway line because it is dangerous, no one should walk in the red bus lanes at any time. Pedestrians should only cross streets at the dedicated pedestrian crossings when it is safe to do so, or use the footbridges provided for this purpose,” he said.
Herron also said that footage of the accident was recorded by an external camera on the corner of Blaauwberg and Potsdam roads, and that police could view the footage if they make a formal request.
“It confirms the eyewitness reports, as well as the fact that the bus driver stopped immediately after the accident,” he added.
Lasker has asked for witnesses to contact Table View detectives.
Weekend Argus