Tragic end for beloved accordion player

Minutes before his death on Monday morning, Dr Lukas du Preez left his home in high spirits to fetch his domestic worker at the nearby Sasol garage.

His new love interest waited on his return home with freshly baked muffins and coffee, but it was someone else who knocked at the door - with the tragic news of his death. He had been in an accident not far from home.

Du Preez, a retired advocate specialising in labour law, became a familiar face and personality in 2021 when he played his accordion outside the Covid ward of the Life Bay View Private Hospital in Mossel Bay where his wife, Marinda, was a patient at the time. After losing his wife to the pandemic in August that year, Du Preez kept bringing joy to patients everywhere by playing the accordion outside other local hospitals. He also played his accordion outside the George Civic Centre during the Victoria Street building disaster last year, to comfort the relatives of the missing and deceased.

Unbeknown to the public, Du Preez's empathy masked a deep sadness and mourning for his wife of 40 years. According to friends and family on the accident scene, he only recently rediscovered happiness in a blossoming romantic relationship. Du Preez and the woman, who asked not to be named, had decided to make their relationship official just days before his tragic death, and to share the exciting news with their families.

Lukas du Preez plays the accordion. Photo: Kristy Kolberg

"He was happy with this woman. They were planning an exciting time together," a friend of Du Preez's was heard to say on the scene.

Du Preez's new love was overheard telling the people who had come to console her that she and Du Preez had gone to church on what would turn out to be their last day together, and then spent some time with friends. She said he had been in high spirits when he left the house minutes before the accident.

Later that day, Du Preez had planned to take his Discovery in to the panel beater's to have a dent repaired.

The couple were then to drive down to Mossel Bay in her car and spend the day with her family.

However, the tragic turn of events saw her family rush over from Mossel Bay instead, to comfort and console her and Du Preez's son and daughter.

The driver's door of Lukas du Preez's vehicle was ripped off by the impact of the crash.

Piecing together the accident

The accident happened at about 09:00 on Monday on Welgelegen Boulevard near the Outeniqua Family Market turn-off. After a short downhill section between the Welgelegen Estate and the turn-off to the market, Du Preez's vehicle crashed into the trailer of an articulated truck parked in the emergency lane on the opposite side of the road.

The trailer was parked on a bend, in a relatively wide emergency lane demarcated by a yellow line. The trailer was book-ended by two bright orange traffic cones, one in front of and one behind the truck.

The truck was also clearly visible from a distance in both directions and was in no way obstructing the oncoming lane Du Preez had been travelling in. Details of how he came to crash into the trailer on the other side of the solid white line are yet to be confirmed.

The greatest impact was to the nose and driver side of the car. The driver's door was ripped off by the force of the crash and was lying on the road a short distance from where the Land Rover had come to a standstill. He is understood to have died on impact.

While the officials were processing the scene, the loved ones could be heard sobbing. Many of the bystanders knew Du Preez and expressed their shock at what had just happened, reminiscing about the last time they saw him and the kind of person he was.

Various hypotheses about the accident itself were also swirling about.

A representative of Johnson's Bricks, the company that owns the trailer on the side of the road, explained it was left there because it was not allowed into the Welgelegen Estate where its load of bricks was used at a construction site. The man, who asked not to be named, said it was common practice for contractors to unhook large trailers, leave them there and then offload the bricks in smaller quantities, especially since the contractors' gate used in the past had been closed. While conceding that it was not ideal, he said they'd been doing it that way for a number of years. He said there was a time when they could use a spacious piece of land on the Outeniqua Family Market road, but that ended when a gate was put up.

Lukas du Preez’s Land Rover Discovery had crashed into a large trailer parked on the opposite side of the road.