Shock over TV star's death

2007-12-31 10:12

Johannesburg - The parents of actor and television presenter Antonio Summerton arrived from Cape Town on Sunday to fetch his body.

Summerton, who acted in soaps such as 7de Laan, Backstage and Binnelanders, and who also presented Stripteaze, died in an accident after his motorcycle hit a lamppost a few metres from his block of flats on Saturday evening.

The lamppost on the median in Constantia Road in Weltevreden Park, Roodepoort, was cut in half by the impact. Summerton was hurled a few metres to the sidewalk on the other side of the road.

Rubber and broken glass still littered the scene on Sunday, where grieving friends had left flowers.

Last spoke on Facebook

Summerton's parents, Julie and Tony, would have arrived on Sunday afternoon from Mitchells Plain in Cape Town to fetch the body of their youngest son.

Ashley Moodey, a friend of Summerton's, said it seemed Summerton had swerved to miss a car at the corner of Constantia Road and Treegum Street and lost control over his motorcycle. He said according to emergency staff, Summerton broke his neck in the accident. Emergency staff phoned him after going through the record of the last phone calls Summerton had received.

Moodie, 27, who was the same age as Summerton, said he had spoken to the actor to make arrangements to look after Summerton's dog while he had an appointment. Simon Dithebe, a car guard at the Total filling station down Constantia Road, said Summerton fuelled up shortly after 17:00 and then drove down the street. A few minutes later he heard a loud crash.

Moodie said Summerton bought the motorcycle a month ago after writing off his BMW in the vicinity.

Chantelle Gertse, who plays the role of Veronica Williams in Binnelanders, said she got a fright when hearing about Summerton's death. "I thought about him on Saturday evening. The last time I spoke to him was on Facebook."

Friedrich Stark, producer of Binnelanders, said Summerton's death came as a shock.

"I enjoyed working with him. His death is a loss."

Summerton is also survived by an older brother, Rian.

- Beeld