Cape Town - The family of the man who was driving the bakkie which crashed and left five children dead said he was not drunk at the time of the accident.
The 39-year-old man, who faces the charge of culpable homicide, was arrested on Sunday night after the accident. The accident happened just after 11pm on the N1 highway between Brackenfell Boulevard and the R300 in Cape Town.
He was travelling with his family from Koue Bokkeveld – his wife, two sisters-in-law and seven children.
The couple live in Moorreesburg and were visiting their family for the weekend.
They were first going to drop off one sister in-law in Du Noon and then proceed to their destination.
The driver lost two daughters aged 7and 14; one of the sister-in-laws lost two children a girl and a boy; the fifth child is said to be of a family friend.
His brother told the “Cape Argus”: “On Sunday he had something to drink but when I got home around 11am, he was sleeping the alcohol off, and he woke up around 8pm.
“He got up and told everyone it was time to drive back to Morreesburg where they live.
“When he left he looked fine, we didn’t think there was anything wrong with him driving.”
The driver is expected to appear in court today.
His mother expressed that they are very hurt about what happened.
“I have lost grandchildren and also my son. Ever since we heard about the accident we have had a difficult time to process what happened. I am heartbroken.”