GEORGE NEWS - A 44-year-old woman from George, Bongi Tshaka, is happy to be alive after she was hit by a car in Cradock Street on Monday 27 May.

Tshaka was on her way home from work at the time of the incident. She wanted to cross the street using the pedestrian crossing between Champions Pre-school and Aftercare and Outeniqua Primary school, when a car came from the direction of Denneoord and hit her while she was crossing the road.

She sustained seven serious fractures to her body and one to her spinal cord and is currently recovering in hospital before she will be sent for rehabilitation.

"I can only thank God that I am alive," Tshaka said from her hospital bed. "I am still in very, very severe pain and the doctors are treating me until I can go for rehabilitation."

The driver of the vehicle stopped at the scene of the accident.

According to an eyewitness, Samantha le Roux, the vehicle did not attempt to slow down when it neared the pedestrian crossing and Tshaka landed more or less nine metres away from where the car hit her. 

"She was unconscious for a while and when she came around she complained of her pelvis hurting and she had breathing problems," said Le Roux.

However, according to Le Roux, co-owner of the aftercare, motorists failing to adhere to the pedestrian crossing and general traffic regulations have posed a huge problem for quite some time now.

"When the schools open between 07:00 and 07:45 and close between 12:30 and 14:15, many parents park and leave their vehicles parked in front of the gates of businesses in the street. Neither clients nor staff can then enter the premises. 

"We run an aftercare at both 122 and 124 Cradock Street and the traffic poses a huge risk to children going to and coming from school, as there is no one assisting them by stopping cars at the pedestrian crossing," said Le Roux.

She says it's not only the motorists that ramp up her blood pressure, but also arrogant parents who fetch their children from school.

"They simply park on the pedestrian crossing. We've had children nearly knocked over when cars park on the pedestrian crossing and the driver just reverses. We walk the children across, but we often have problems with parents parking in front of our gates. 

"This doesn't only cause a safety issue, but also a traffic pile-up. I have called the traffic department on a regular basis and was told that we should start a scholar patrol. There used to be pointsmen/traffic officers during busy hours, but now there's no one regulating traffic anymore. 

"This lady's accident was already serious. Are they waiting for someone to die before something gets done?" asked Le Roux.

Southern Cape police spokesperson Sgt Chris Spies said the George police have since opened a reckless and negligent driving docket 

"No arrests have been made yet. The cause of the accident is yet to be established and forms part of the ongoing police investigation," said Spies.

Jannie Koegelenberg, Director of Civil Engineering Services, confirmed that all the correct signage is in place in this area. 

George Traffic Services indicated that they will have teams do road safety education in the area.

A screenshot of the CCTV footage where Tshaka is hit by the car in Cradock Street.

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