Cape Town - A teenager has died after being hit by a MyCiTi bus while on his way to work.
Brandon van Rooyen, 19, was crossing the road to get to work on Tuesday morning when he stepped into the red lane in front of an oncoming bus in Blaauwberg Road, Table View.
Mariata Theron, who said she had been like a foster mother to Van Rooyen, witnessed the incident, which occurred shortly after she had dropped him off at the robot in Blaauwberg Road.
“It was peak-hour traffic and it was raining,” she said. “After we stopped at the robot, Brandon told me would jump out and go to work.
“I watched as he got out of the car to cross the road.
“Then the bus, speeding down the road hit him.”
An emotional Theron said the wheels of the bus went over Brandon several times.
“I felt so helpless, watching my son die like that.”
She always dropped Van Rooyen at the robot.
Cars often drive at high speed there.
ER24 spokeswoman Luyanda Majija said Van Rooyen had sustained multiple fractures.
“It appears he was killed on impact. The teenager was on his way to work when the bus hit him as he was apparently attempting to cross the busy road,” said Majija.
Police spokesman Phindiswa Gcume said a case of culpable homicide had been opened.
Cape Town City Council’s mayoral committee member for transport Brett Herron said after the incident MyCiTi buses were diverted into the normal traffic lanes on Blaauwberg Road, between Gie and Koeberg roads.
“The bus involved in the accident was substituted. Commuters at the stations were informed of slight delays through messages on the public information displays at the relevant stations.”
He said the roadway had been cleared about 10am and one person had been taken to hospital to be treated for shock.
Just before Christmas, Roderick Leonard, 55, was using a pedestrian crossing at the MyCiTi Civic Centre station in Hertzog Boulevard at 4pm to get to the railway station for a train home to Mitchells Plain when a bus struck him.
Leonard, a father of four and a grandfather, had been an employee at Artscape’s wardrobe department for more than 30 years and regularly used the crossing to get to and from work.
“We would like to remind pedestrians that the dedicated red bus lanes are for the exclusive use of the MyCiTi buses, designed to give the MyCiTi service a headway advantage.
“It is extremely dangerous for pedestrians to take shortcuts over these lanes or to step into the lanes,” said Herron.
Cape Times