A Mitchell’s Plain police officer died instantly in a horror crash along with five others – four of them his own family.
Sergeant Mandlenkosi Caga, 43, a court orderly at Mitchell’s Plain Magistrate’s Court, was off duty and travelling with his family from his family home in Mdantsane in the Eastern Cape to Cape Town when the accident happened outside Grahamstown on Monday April 2, Family Day.
The Daily Dispatch reports that among the dead are Sergeant Caga’s children, Hlumelo, 7, Ahlumile, 4, and Sisipho, 12.
His 16-year-old daughter Bongiwe was admitted to St George’s Hospital in Port Elizabeth with severe injuries.
Their mother Phumza sustained broken limbs but is stable.
The fifth accident victim was Sergeant Caga’s brother, Malibongwe, 45, while the sixth body was yet to be identified.
Constable Nozuko Makwayiba, a colleague of Sergeant Caga’s at the court, said his absence is felt very deeply at the station.
“We ask people to keep the family in prayer and to provide the necessary support to the family,” Constable Makwayiba said.
Mitchell’s Plain police station commander, Brigadier Cass Goolam, conveyed the station and the court’s condolences to Sergeant Caga’s family and friends.
“He was a very disciplined member and contributed greatly to his duty in court,” he said.
