The police in Franschhoek have opened a case of culpable homicide as they continue an investigation into a fatal accident on the R45 near La Motte.  

A light motor vehicle and a truck were involved in the accident on Tuesday afternoon, which a preliminary police investigation suggests was a head-on collision. Western Cape SAPS spokesperson, Captain F.C. Van Wyk, said it appears the car was driving from Franschhoek, while the truck was heading toward the town. The accident happened at around 17:45. 

“The middle aged driver of the light motor vehicle died on the scene due to injuries sustained, as well as one passenger who was sitting on the back of the truck,” said Van Wyk.  

Van Wyk added that five occupants of the truck, transporting 28 farmworkers, were hospitalised.  

Emergency and law enforcement services with the Stellenbosch Municipality and Franschhoek First Responders were among those that responded to the scene.

Billy Claasen, of the Rural and Farmworkers Development Organisation, said that one of the deceased was a seasonal farmworker. 

Information Claasen received suggests that the motorist in the light motor vehicle was an e-hailing driver.  

“It is alleged that an open truck collided with an Uber. The impact of allegedly killed the Uber driver on the scene, whilst the seasonal farmworker sadly passed away in the ambulance on their way to the hospital,” said Claasen in a statement.  

He notes that incidents of this nature happen at an “alarming frequency” and appealed to the President and Ministers of Labour and Agriculture to address the transportation of farmworkers on the backs of open trucks and bakkies. 

“We have been pleading for action on this issue for years, yet nothing has been done,” added Claasen.  

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