Durban - A year after two people died when a metro police vehicle smashed into their car, killing Clayton Saville and Cindy Radebe, the force has absolved the policewoman at the wheel at the time of responsibility for the crash.
Metro police superintendent Glen Ndlovu said its investigations revealed the officer had not skipped a red robot.
“Those robots are for buses (GO!Durban). They are controlled by arrows and they were green for her. She had the right of way and the car was supposed to yield for her,” Ndlovu said.
However, the Saville and Radebe families were still waiting for answers a year after their loved ones died at the Shepstone and Blase roads intersection in New Germany on March 27, 2018.
Two passengers in the back were seriously injured, while the policewoman and her two passengers sustained moderate injuries.
Independent Police Investigative Directorate spokesperson Moses Dlamini said the case was still under investigation. “The post-mortem and warning statement have been received. We are awaiting a technical report about traffic lights and the statement of a possible witness and other injured parties who are in Johannesburg for medical treatment,” he said.
Samantha Saville, Clayton’s mother, recently expressed her anger, hatred and disgust with the SAPS, metro police and Ipid in a Facebook post. Saville said her son was killed by a metro policewoman allegedly driving at high speed. She said there was video evidence of the accident and Ipid, which investigated crimes allegedly committed by police officers, had taken over the case but there was “still no joy”.
“Why has this woman not appeared in court? Why hasn’t she been charged. Why has nobody from any law bodies informed us of what’s happening with this case?” she asked.
She said the policewoman’s life was continuing, while hers had been destroyed. Meanwhile, the Radebe children do not have a mother or a grandmother because of the accident.
Chris Radebe, Cindy’s cousin, said the last update he had on the investigation was from the Daily News. Radebe said it hurt him that the metro police said the policewoman was not at fault.
He said he had watched the video of the accident, which allegedly showed that the robots facing the direction the policewoman came from were red.
“Before the crash one car skips the robot at high speed and I thought the policewoman was chasing that car.”
Radebe said he also felt that the police were careless in handling evidence, especially at the crime scene.
“It hurts us and it is difficult for her children who now live with their father,” Radebe said. “We were close. I regarded her as my sister and her mother, Nomthetho Radebe, as my mother. She died soon after Cindy. But now they are both gone and sometimes I just sit alone and I feel lost.”
He said all they wanted was justice.
The CCTV footage of the crash that claimed the lives of Clayton Saville and Cindy Radebe.