Cape Town - The family of the man driving the bakkie which crashed, killing three children and two teens said they were dealt a double blow.
The Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court granted driver Adriaan Hanse, 39, bail of R5 000 on Tuesday. The conditions are that he shouldn’t have any contact or communication with witnesses who are his relatives.
He was charged with culpable homicide and driving under the influence of alcohol. The father was taking his family members home from Koue Bokkeveld to Morreesburg on Sunday night when they were involved in an accident at around 11.30pm.
The children, Cruzan Kyba, 1, Devoline Kyba, 11, Abigail Hanse, 7, and teens Sarisa Hanse, 15, and Alvina Lesch, 19, died after they were flung out of the Ford Bantam bakkie.
His wife, Nolisa Hanse, said: “I don’t know where he is going to live because we didn’t think he would get such conditions.
“We would like him to come to the funeral of the children. This is devastating and confusing.”
Hanse’s family travelled from Koue Bokkeveld to support him in court.
They said they understood the tragedy was an accident.
The accused’s brother, Gerhard Hanse, told the Cape Argus: “He is a professional driver. He taught me how to drive.
“We are both truck drivers, when he said he was leaving that night around 8pm we didn’t think much of it and we didn’t think he was drunk.
“When I arrived home that morning from work, he was sleeping from 11am and we all thought he slept off the alcohol which he had consumed earlier that day, we all know it takes time to get out of the system.”
But the charge sheet states he was driving under the influence and that when officers arrived at the scene, they could smell alcohol and he was slurring his words and couldn’t stand up straight.
“He seemed sober when he left. This was really unfortunate for the family,” the brother explained.
“We are all broken, I lost my nieces and they were like my children. We were very close and my brother was arrested and will have to face this for the rest of his life.
“And we have seen comments about 11 people in the bakkie, the car had a canopy but it flew off during the accident, we thought they would be safe.”
Nolisa relived the final moments before the accident.
“There was a car which distracted him, and he changed lanes and when he went to the middle lane the car came to that lane too and that is when my husband lost control.
“It seemed like I was sleeping and when I woke up the car was spinning and we hit the concrete barrier before going to the steel one,” she recalled.
“When all of that was done, suddenly there were police and when I got out of the car I couldn’t see anything, even my children. I spoke to the police and my husband who asked about the children, I showed him where they were lying and I was taken to hospital.”
The grieving mother insisted that Hanse was not speeding.
“We left our mother-in-law’s home at 8pm, it took us three hours to get to Brackenfell because he was driving (at) 80km/h.
“That is how he has always driven.”
The driver’s mother Hester Hanse said they were very hurt by what happened.
“Ever since we heard about the accident we have had a difficult time to process what happened. I am heartbroken.
“We don’t know how to move on from this tragedy.”