MEC's Merc kills pedestrian

2010-05-23 23:00

Buks Viljoen, Beeld

Nelspruit - A pedestrian was killed on Friday when he was hit by the vehicle of an Mpumalanga MEC.

Clifford Mukanzi, Mpumalanga's MEC for roads and transport, was a passenger in the luxury Mercedes-Benz which hit the pedestrian.

Apparently Mukanzi was on his way back to Nelspruit from a planning meeting in Tonga - where President Jacob Zuma spoke on Sunday - when the accident occurred at about 19:30 on Friday.

It happened on the N4 highway about 5km from Malalane in the direction of Nelspruit.

Malalane police spokesperson Bheki Nkosi confirmed that a charge of culpable homicide is being investigated against the driver, who was a policeman.

MEC not injured

According to Nkosi, a pedestrian in his late 20s was allegedly walking across the N4 when he was hit by Mukanzi's vehicle.

The impact flung the man through the air and he died at the scene.

Mukanzi was sitting in the back of the vehicle and a bodyguard from the police's VIP protection unit was sitting in the front passenger seat.

Nkosi couldn't say at what speed the MEC's vehicle had been travelling.

Mukanzi joined Zuma and the rest of the ANC's top management on stage in Mpumalanga on Sunday.

David Nkambule, spokesperson for the department of roads and transport, said neither Mukanzi nor his staff were injured in the accident.

He did not want to comment any further, supposedly because he hasn't discussed the incident with Mukanzi yet.