'Serious concerns' around violent Youth Day N2 crash
Robin Carlisle, the MEC for Transport and Public Works in the Western Cape has called the killing in a car crash of 18 year old Courtney Moore and 50 year old Estelle Brigando ‘a continuation of the tragic and violent slaughter of innocents on our roads.’
The crash happened in the early hours of Youth Day close to the R300 turn-off, when a Mercedes-Benz allegedly drove into the back of a Toyota Yaris heading in the direction of Somerset West. The driver of the Mercedes Benz is known to have fled the scene shortly afterwards.
Their deaths on the N2 once again painfully make the case why we must stamp out lawless savagery on our roads.
Here we have four women returning home on one of our major roads violently shunted by another motorist travelling at high speed on a road on which he could easily and safely have overtaken them.
Two of the women die and two teenage girls are left without their mother. This could have been anyone’s mother, daughter, sister or wife.
This is the slaughter of innocents on our roads – ordinary people are being killed by mainly young men, who are all too often drunk and speeding.
Ninety six of the perpetrators in fatal crashes are men.
What infuriates me in equal measures in this matter is that certain elements in the police appear to have dragged their feet and breached procedure so seriously and systematically as to raise concerns as to whether a conviction can now be obtained.
We now have been reliably informed that the police were contacted by the suspect, or his family in the early morning after the crash and informed of his whereabouts, and that the police made no effort to detain the suspect, obtain a blood, or breath sample from the suspect, or even interview him.
This failure by the police to act timeously was further compounded by their failure to secure the Freeway Management System footage of the crash, until shortly before it was due to be erased and then only after pressure from this administration.
Possibly most serious of all is that the vehicle in question, which is in fact the alleged murder weapon and the most important evidence in the case, was allowed to be unlawfully removed from police control without a thorough forensic investigation having been conducted.
My department sees the investigation into the killing of Courtney Moore and Estelle Brigando as a watershed case, which will determine whether those with resources, connections and/or money can escape the consequences of their actions on the roads.
I am determined that they will not.
I would also like to assure the public that my department and that of Minister Dan Plato will not rest until justice is done.
Enquiries:
Steven Otter
Cell: 084 233 3811
