JEFFREYS BAY – Jeffreys Bay businessman Pirow Viljoen (83) has died following a motor vehicle accident in Nautilus Street, Jeffreys Bay, on 23 May.

As a result, the reckless and negligent driving case against the accused is now set to change to culpable homicide.

Police spokesperson Captain Majola Nkohli confirmed that Onke Bonase (31) briefly appeared in the Humansdorp Magistrate’s Court on 25 May.

Shortly after Bonase’s court appearance, Nkohli said that the accused appeared in court on charges of reckless and negligent driving with a second charge of driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.

Nkohli further confirmed that an additional charge of disobeying a stop sign had been added.

“Bonase was released on R500 bail and the matter was postponed to 23 July for further investigation,” said Nkohli.

He said that following Viljoen’s death, the reckless and negligent driving charge would now change to culpable homicide.

The date on which Viljoen died is yet to be confirmed.

As previously reported, the incident occurred at about 16:55 on 23 May when Viljoen was allegedly walking over a pedestrian crossing in Nautilus Street, and a white VW Polo allegedly drove through a stop sign and hit him.

After the incident, police said that a member of a private security company allegedly witnessed the incident in his rear-view mirror, made a U-turn, stopped the suspect’s vehicle and summoned police to the scene.

Upon arrival, police allegedly found that the driver of the white VW Polo was under the influence of alcohol.

Viljoen was widely known in the Jeffreys Bay community as a former owner of Wimpy and Mugg & Bean franchises.

He was also actively involved with the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds.

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